Together
by xtremesnapefan
Summary: Sarah is very unusal. Her life unexpectedly twists when she finds out Severus Snape is her only living relative her uncle. She meets Mike, finds out that he is a wizard and she is a witch, and they share a bond. But is Mike who he says he is?
1. The Woman in the Mirror

**A/N: hey fanfic readers! I know, some of the early chapters of this fic are written atrociously, but I swear, they get so much better as I've progressed as a writer.**

The Woman In The Mirror.

Our story begins in the detention room of Seaford Middle School. The detention room was sometimes known as the 'air room'. During the day, students were sent there when they misbehaved or were sent out of the classroom. After school, it was used as the detention room for all students. The walls were made of brick, covered in peeling yellow paint. There were many file cabinets and desks scattered across the room in no particular order. The students were all scattered, not wanting to sit next to each other.

Sarah Payne, a bit of an odd girl, struggled to look at the clock on the wall to see the time. Some bullies had taken her glasses earlier that day and flushed them in a bathroom stall. But she didn't have the courage to go tell an adult about it, so, she had just tried to see by squinting. There was still a great deal of time left before detention was over.

The required silence was becoming irksome to her. She felt like she was on the brink of insanity, and that she could no longer endure the silence . . . but she had to, or else she would have to endure yet another day of it. A large bang, like a gunshot - suddenly broke the silence. She nearly screamed because of the searing pain the loud noise caused. She settled for a whimper.

A teacher came running down the hall, asking everyone if they were all right. It was Mr. Pollin, the art teacher. Everyone thought he was a bit off his rocker, but Sarah thought he was awesome. He was probably the only person who understood her. His outlook on life was much more fun and different than how the others thought. Then there was Mike. He was a complete nerd, and annoying to such a degree, but Sarah found herself somewhat attracted to his intellect, without really ever getting to know him. He could break something apart and put it back together without looking at any instructions, and Sarah found that incredibly sexy.

Sarah's clothes were slightly damp from sweating in the hot room, as it was only a few weeks out of summer, and the air room had, well, no air conditioner. Sweat drenched her clothes as she looked around. Nobody else seemed to have heard the noise except her and Mr. Pollin. She glanced at him hopefully- perhaps she wasn't the only one to hear it.

"Mr. Pollin, is everything alright?" Ms. Shietzler asked him, getting up to face him.

"It was… T-that bang… Didn't any of you hear it?" he asked, for nearly all of the students were looking at him as if he was crazy, including Mrs. Shietzler.

Her brow furrowed. "What bang?"

"No, I know what he's talking about…I heard it," Sarah stammered as she stood up out of her desk.

"Sit down Miss Payne." Mrs. Sheitzler ordered. "This is an adult matter"

"No. It's not an adult matter if I can hear it and you can't. That makes this a public matter." She growled back.

Now everyone was staring at me. Nobody talked back to Mrs. Sheitzler, ever. Well, nobody had stayed in the school long enough to spread word of it. Expulsion was the average result of such an outburst.

"Shut up. If I had a nickel for each student I had expelled for talking back to me, I'd have-"

"What? Enough money to buy yourself another chocolate bar?"

Mr. Pollin stood between the two. "The both of you just shut your traps. Sarah, come with me."

Sarah obiedantly followed him out of the room. "You heard it too sir?"

"Yes, but I don't understand why we were the only ones who did… You shouldn't tell anyone about this… Come on, I'm getting you out of here." He said, grabbing her hand and leading her down the hallway.

"Wait…sir… would you mind if I used the restroom first? The sound startled me a bit…" Sarah muttered.

"Yes, go. But quickly." He said in rather a hurry. Sarah nodded.

She entered the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and began to wash all the sweat from her face. How could it be that only two people in the entire school heard that noise? Just another thing to make her feel as if I didn't belong… She didn't want to think of it. She could feel some one staring at me. The hairs in her neck prickled as they stood up. She looked up into the mirror to find an old woman in a tartan green dress gown, with her gray hair pulled tight into a bun, looking back at her through her square-framed spectacles. She spun around on her heel, grasping the sink from behind her, to get a better look, but the woman was gone.

She looked into the hall for a sight of her, but she was nowhere to be found. Only a tabby cat sprinting down the hall. Wait a moment... Cats weren't allowed on school! No pets were allowed inside the school! A few seconds later she heard the gunshot-like bang once more and fell to her knees, holding her ears and waiting for the ringing to stop.

(point of view change)


	2. The Potions Master

The Potions Master

Minerva McGonagall stepped through the gates that were so familiar to her, and walked towards the entrance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was late now, and the sun was beginning to set. Instead of returning to her office set off from the entrance, to the dungeons.

It had been years since she had been down here, and she could not decipher where to go. She asked a first year Slytherin student, who almost decided not to tell her, but after the piercing look she gave him, the boy babbled directions to the head of Slytherin house office.

She knocked on the door three times, before allowing herself inside. "The rumors are true, severs she has powers! She sensed me watching her! Not many twelve year olds can do that." She informed Severus of what happened.

"Did anyone else hear you apparate?" he asked accusingly. "Well I don't believe so, except for another teacher, but believe I knew him. I think he was a squib, and I think he knows her true heritage Severus." she responded.

Severus looked worried. "Why I ever - mug - squi - are you sure?" he asked in an angered voice. "Yes. Severus. Completely. I never got to visit Mikel though. I suppose you could ask Lupine, Black, or Flitwick, maybe." she answered.

"Mikel? Whose son is he?" Severus demanded, "I believe he is Neville Longbottom's" Minerva told Severus. "Longbottom?" he asked, bemused, "Yes, Longbottom, but I believe he goes by his mothers name, oh what was it - oh! Now I remember! Ullen. Mikel Ullen."

"Does she know of him?" Severus asked dangerously, "Well, I believe she likes him, as I saw a drawing of him in superhero form, in her journal. It was labeled 'Mike'." "WHAT!" Severus Roared, "How can she?! A Longbottom! My niece in love with a Longbottom!" he spat. "SHH! Severus! Calm Down! Do you want the all the resident's of England to know you have an abandoned daughter?" She asked. "Fine . . . How she can … never understand . . ." he replied through gritted teeth, while Minerva left Severus in his office, mumbling nonsense.

Severus took a handful of green powder from a box and threw it into the fire. "Aberforth Dumbledore!" he shouted, and an old man's face, extremely similar to Albus Dumbledore's appeared in the fire. His blue eyes twinkled in the dancing fire. "Yes Severus?" he asked in a concerned voice. "I need to ask of a favor," Severus stated. "What do you need?" Aberforth asked calmly. "Can you ask some people to follow Sarah, to make sure she is safe?" Severus asked nervously. "Of course Severus," Aberforth replied, "and I am sure you would feel at much ease if you could see where she is on the weekends or somewhat like that? I have no problem with it, infact I encourage it." Aberforth finished.

"Oh, thank you sir!" Severus exclaimed brightly. "Goodnight Severus," Aberforth left the fireplace with a _pop._




	3. Dementor Attack

Dementor Attack

I couldn't understand it! That woman looked exactly like Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter Films. I remembered reading the books, saying how wizards operate, and how Harry had though it was - -a gunshot. That woman's disapparated! She followed me? Of course I would never know why.

I knew I was different, I even believed I could perform - -magic. After all I had blown an entire three circuits, last years when I was playing with a tinsel wand.

- - - - -

Alyssa was playing quid ditch on my Play Station 2. I took out the tinsel wand from the cupboard, and began to wave it around. "Expelliarmus!" I shouted (and just for fun, I tapped the T.V. too) ZAP! The T.V screen went blank, and every thing in the room turned off.

They wouldn't turn on either! My friend and I went to open the door, but it was locked! Alyssa and I began to fear things we had never feared before. All the happiness began to drain from our faces.

We ran into the kitchen and out the side door. Could barely see a thing and I bumped my head on the cars rear - view mirror. I groaned and collapsed on top of my friend. She woke me up and told me to open the garage. I did as I was told and as I did so, warmth spread over me. Light. After all this darkness, we saw a soft yellow light from the ceiling of the garage.

- - - - -

Dementors. Dementors were what attacked me last year!


	4. The Green & Silver Snake

The Green & Silver Snake

The next day, I felt unusual. Like an extremely heavy weight had been placed on my brain. The information I had found out began to flatten my other thoughts. I began to wander if I really belonged here. After all, Mikel was the only reason I liked to go to school. He was the only reason I stayed in Competitive Science.

Competitive Science was next period. I hurried to the classroom to see Mikel. We had grown extremely close during the past few months. I began to have feelings for him, but I didn't dare ask if he liked me back; I didn't want to be let down. But today I decided to ask. I was going to ask, and see if he liked me back. "Hey Mikel" I said as I entered the classroom. "Hey Sarah," he replied, smiling as he did so. "Well, err - Shall we go up to the library then?" I asked confidently "Sure, like always", he responded smiling again. I couldn't help smiling back. So we stood there for about three minutes, smiling at each other, until the teachers shooed us away.

Once we got up there, we took the two computers at the back of the library. Lisa came over and asked "Are there anymore computers?" "No." Mikel and I responded at the same time, and laughed a little. "You two should get married!" she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. I gave her a nasty, threatening look, "Oh, no! You're not hurting me again!" she exclaimed in a more frightened voice, "Maybe not now, but later . . ." I showed her my fist hitting my open palm. Lisa scurried away, and didn't bother us again throughout the whole period. In this time I decided to ask "Hey Mike, do you like anybody?" he leaned away from me in his chair. "Well, yes or no, because you didn't real answer." I said. "Err - yea," he said nervously. My heart skipped a beat "Really? Who!?" I asked excitedly, "Well, you." he responded a little shakily. "Oh my God! Really? Me too! I just didn't want to be the first one to say it" I replied, and he laughed.

"Err - Mike?" I asked, "Yeah? A twisted smile brewed when I said his name. "Yesterday, did you hear a loud bang?" "Yeah! I thought only heard that! Weird huh?" "Yeah weird. Did you by any chance see a woman with . . . well a woman that looked like professor McGonagall?" "Well, I did see a lady in green, crossing the soccer field, which sort of looked like her. But I was in my backyard by the high school, so I didn't get a good look." but he looked extremely grim now.

"Do you ever feel like you don't belong here?" he asked, "Well not when I'm with you, that's for sure . . . But every other time I do." I answered" And what about you?" I asked nervously. "The only time I've felt like I belong was when I met you," he said gravely.

 

Without warning, she threw herself at me, in a hug, tears streaming down her face. "Are you okay Sarah?" I asked. "Yeah, o-of course. Why wouldn't I be?" she responded. "Well, you're crying, and that's usually not a good thing." I said sarcastically. "Oh, right. The crying. It's not tears of sadness silly goose! They're tears of joy! I never thought I'd find someone who felt the same way I do." she replied, smiling. Just the fact that she wasn't sad made me smile.

We smiled for what seemed to be hours. Then she held my hand. I looked down at our hands and could see a green glow coming from her hand and silver from mine. It wrapped around or arms. The green coiled like a snake around my arm, and the silver wrapped itself around hers. "Whoa" she exclaimed and that convinced me that I was not the only one seeing it.



I outstretched my hand and grabbed hold of his. He looked down and so did I. my arm felt tingly; and I soon found out why. There was a silvery snake wrapping itself around my arm, and my arm was giving off a green glow. There was a green snake coiling itself around Mikel's arm, and Mikel was giving off a silvery glow. I went to touch the snake, but it was not solid. It was like a vapor "Whoa" I mumbled, and mike smiled at me, convincing me that I was not the only one to see it.


	5. Severus Snape

Severus Snape

Finally it was the weekend. I was a little depressed by the fact I wasn't going to see Mikel, but I could always hangout with him later. In fact, I intended to do just that. I got dressed, and looked out the window. It was snowing! "WOW!" I smiled, and picked up my phone to call Mikel. "Mike?" "Yeah?" "IT'S SNOWING!" I yelled into the receiver. "You didn't need to yell. I could hear you perfectly fine if you didn't shout," he plainly stated. "Yeah, well . . . shouting is more fun!" I said. "Do you, well - maybe want to hangout today, I won't yell, I promise!" I rushed excitedly, "Yeah, sure, why not" he replied. "Want to see a movie or something?" I asked, "Nah, let's go to the mall!" he answered, "Kay? "Kay." "Bye" "Bye-bye." I hanged up the phone and told my mom - with much persuading - to take me to the mall.

I left the car and entered the mall. Mike was waiting for me at the entrance. We began to look around just for fun. We noticed something unusual; people were following us. Not normal people either; they were wearing wizard cloaks of various colors. There was a man that looked familiar, and he lurked in the shadows. He wore a black cloak, and black attire, but a white shirt could be seen from his wrists and neck. He had black, greasy shoulder length hair that framed his shallow face.

"Hey, Mike?" I asked stopping in my tracks, Mike stopped too. "Yeah?" he replied, "That man" I pointed a finger "Does he look like -" "Severus Snape? Yeah I've noticed" he cut me off. I turned a way from the man and looked Mike in the eye. "Do you know why all these people are following us?" I asked. His face was filled with curiosity, but was replaced by fear as he pointed behind me.

I turned around, and almost fell over onto Mike as I scrambled backwards. "Of course, neither of you know why we are following you" the man in black spoke, and now I knew it was Severus Snape. "Well could you tell us, because we'd like to know?" I demanded. "But of course" he replied "Follow me" he told us, I was about to walk, but Mike held me back.

"We should find out who this guy is before we follow him" he whispered and turned around to face the man. "Wait a sec, who are you?" he asked threateningly. The man turned and stared at us with his dark eyes, they were cold, and reminded me of dark tunnels. "I am Severus Snape, potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am also the Slytherin head - of - house. Any more questions?" he asked.

Mike and I glanced at each other solemnly and walked forward mumbling "No" as we approached Severus. "Follow me," he ordered, and Mikel gave me a worried glance before moving forward.


	6. Truth is Told

Truth is Told

We followed Severus Snape to the lowest level of the mall that was labeled "Closed for construction". It was labeled like that fro years, but nothing ever happened. Nobody EVER went inside. Not even employees. There were stories told about the children who wandered inside, and came out sporting ghastly injuries, or having no recollection of the incident.

Mikel and I stopped dead in our tracks. "We aren't going in _there_, are we?" I asked nervously. "Why yes, yes we are," he said, turning around and staring down at me with his cold, dark eyes. "Is there a problem?" he asked softly.

"Well, what if there is?" demanded Mike. "I assure you that nothing in there will hurt you. The most dangerous thing in there will be the two of you," he coldly stated. Mike glared at Snape and Snape glared back, but turned on his heals leading into the room. There was nothing but a brick wall inside, so indeed Snape was right, although I thought Snape was much more dangerous than us.

He turned around to face us, which startled me, and I staggered backwards, colliding into Mike. He caught, and held me upright; he wasn't about to let me fall. "I am about to tell you something that may come as quite a shock, Severus told me. "What?" I asked curiously. "Well . . . you'd better sit down. Sarah, your parents were . . . well . . . killed by Lucius Malfoy. You only survived because I disappeared with you in my arms away from the situation."

"You are a witch, and not as an insult. I'm talking about the magical kind." he spoke in a grave voice. My mouth dropped open, and so did Mike's. "Oh yeah? Prove it!" I said sternly. "How come I've had parents all these years then?" I asked accusingly. "Well . . . that's a bit complicated but I suppose I can try to explain.

"It was dark times, extremely dark times. I couldn't bring you to the castle, too dangerous. So I decided to leave you with my old muggle neighbors down at spinner's End. I wasn't sure if you had powers or not, so leaving you with them seemed to be a smart idea at the time. Of course when Dementors attacked you last year for using Expelliarmus, I knew my decision could not have been more horrible.

"After tracking them down, and informing the ministry of what had happened, when you accidentally or purposely used your powers, the Dementors would no longer come. I made sure that I know when you are in trouble or trying to run away from trouble. Apparently you are most stressed when lying or forgetting to do something that is due.

"A few days ago - when you were sent to detention - your stress level was excruciatingly high. Even I felt it. I sent Minerva to check on you, as an animagus and can turn into a cat to stealthily prowl the halls. She told me that you could sense here apparate. Apparently so did Mikel. Anyway to get to the point - I am your uncle," he said

Fury raged inside me like poison killing a victim. "You're my uncle? YOU? Why didn't you ever save me when the Dementors came? Why didn't you bring me to Hogwarts after you realized I had powers? Eleven years of HELL is what it was! Torment and teasing! Do you have ANY idea what it feels like?" I yelled.

I could feel tears streaming down my face. "Come here" mike said comfortingly. I crawled over to him and hugged him harder than I had ever hugged any body before. He hugged me back and murmured something to me. Eventually, my tears, and the sobs dried out, and calm thoughts invaded my mind.

I let go of Mike and he began to rub my shoulder. "Well, I suppose now is better than never. At least you came when you did." I stated. "Why you aren't the only one with secrets from the past. Mike has some too. But he has the choice to hear it or not. What do you say Mike?" Severus asked. "Lets hear it." Mike clearly answered.


	7. Snape Manor

(A/n: this chapter is kinda scary. I don't know what my imagination was thinking at the time)

Before Uncle Severus spoke, I staggered backwards and fell to the floor. I winced in pain, pain so strong, of which I had never felt before. When I tried to breathe, my stomach felt like it was being sliced in half, and my ribs breaking. Uncle Severus ran over to me, as did Mike. Uncle Severus conjured a stretcher out of midair.

With magic, he lifted me upon the stretcher and held onto me tightly, and the stretcher as well. He told Mike to hold onto him, and I saw Mike's hand hold onto Uncle Severus's shoulder. I heard a deafening _CRACK_, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Like someone was forcing me underwater while stepping on my stomach. The feeling continued, even after we stopped and settled on the lawn outside of a dark manor with high windowpanes and an eerie setting in my opinion.

I didn't understand. Where were we? Why not at Hogwarts? Another sharp pain occurred, this time in my left arm. I felt like u was going to puke. I couldn't fight it any longer. I rolled over to the side of the stretcher and vomited on the lawn. It felt like shards of glass were coming up. Uncle Severus told Mike to follow him as he walked to the front of the manor, the stretcher and myself in front of him. After that, everything went dark, as I drifted into unconsciousness.

0

We walked up to my manor, instead of Hogwarts. I wanted her first visit there to be a good one. Walking into the hospital wing with an unconscious child wasn't exactly fitting into that category. As for the boy, he really did seem to care for her. I didn't want to admit it, but they _did_ make a good match.

Sarah flinched in the stretcher and coughed up what looked like blood, but it had a greenish tint to it. I knew I had to move faster, so I began to walk at a brisker pace. Mikel had to run just to keep up with me. "Hey! Wait up!" he called out. "We have to move fast. If you cannot keep up, then you can wait outside until I send one of my house-elves to come and get you," I called back without stopping or turning back.

Mikel was _not_ about to give up. He sprinted alongside me; he truly _did_ care for Sarah. Once inside my manor, mike asked "W-What's wrong with her?" quite nervously. Without looking at him I answered "I don't know."

"WHAT?! You DON'T know?!" he yelled. This time I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face him. A fourteen-year-old yelling at _me_? That was _not_ the way things worked around here. "Listen to me Mikel. I am going to run a few simple tests. After the tests I _will_ know what is wrong. I will treat the problem with magic or a potion, and Sarah will be _fine_ afterward," I explained.

Mikel nodded and followed me into the basement. I rarely ever used my basement, or even my manor. Nearly all of the time I was at Hogwarts. The only time I ever used my manor was over the summers. But this was an emergency. Sarah could be unconscious for at least a week. Wait a moment. Aberforth would realize I was gone.

"Mikel, send an owl addressed to Aberforth Dumbledore. Simply state that my niece has fallen ill. Also state that she, and another boy shall be attending Hogwarts. Tell him that I want the sorting ceremony private. Even Merlin wouldn't be able to tell what would happen to a twelve-year-old and a fourteen-year-old being sorted as first years in _public_.

"Oh and Mikel, tell him I will be resuming my post in about two weeks, and that you will be staying with me until Sarah recovers," I ordered. "Tell all this to the _owl_? Sir, I didn't know owls could talk," Mikel asked. "NOT THE OWL! You write a letter and attach it to the owl's leg!" I shouted angrily. Sarah gave another jerk. "AND HURRY!" I shouted after him as he ran up the spiral staircase to the owlrey.


	8. The Draught of Twelve Nightmares

I conjured a bed for Sarah and levitated her onto it. I didn't want to, nor did it feel right, but I had to test her blood. Taking a small amount, and putting it onto a slide, I checked for poisons and potions that someone might have slipped her. Under the microscope (a muggle magnifying tool) I saw various things that shouldn't have been there. Bright pink spots (no doubt it was doxy venom), a few blue strands (probably unicorn blood, or spit (I prayed it was spit)), and her blood had a greenish tint to it.

Potions and even poisons that are taken affect the drinker quickly, except- except for one; The Draught of Twelve Nightmares. _That _potion slowly affected the victim. It forces them to dream twelve nightmares while twelve different poisons enter the body as each nightmare ends. It usually resulted in death. The victim usually twitched, or made sudden movements, as the poison became more intense.

How many times _had_ Sarah twitched since she had become unconscious? Only twice. Each nightmare had lasted fifteen minutes. She had ten more nightmares to go. Sarah winced. NINE?! Only _nine_ nightmares to go! That was two hours and fifteen minutes. Could I create the antidote within two hours? Better yet, what _was_ the antidote? I could not do this alone. "SEVERCTUM!" I yelled. A faint _pop_ was heard and my first and most loyal house-elf appeared in front of me.

"Yes sir?" he asked in a clear, dignified tone. "Severctum, find Mikel in the owlrey and apparate with him down here. It is the only way to save Sarah!" I exclaimed in panic. A moment later Mikel was standing with Severctum on the cold, stone floor. "_What happened!?_" Mikel asked, looking at Sarah's motionless body. "She's not dead, well not yet. We have two hours and fifteen minutes to make an antidote for the Draught of Twelve Nightmares. If we don't complete it, her time will have run out and she will die. I need you to monitor Sarah while I create the antidote. She is already down to nine nightmares. Every time she makes a sudden movement, or whimpers, a new nightmare begins, and you must count downward until it reaches zero. Lets just hope it never gets there," "okay," Mikel replied.

I did not know what book it was in so I did the only thing that saved time. "Accio Draught of Twelve Nightmares antidote instructions!" I exclaimed. A book shot itself at me and opened to page four hundred ninety-three. It took an hour and a half to prepare, according to the text. "Eight," Mike said, bending lower to Sarah.

I began to create the potion. '_Three tablespoons of shredded eel, one teaspoon of powdered dragon's fang, six ounces of phoenix tears.'_ Luckily, I had exactly the right amount of these ingredients, which saved a _lot_ of time. "Seven!" Mikel shouted. '_Four strands of wizard hair (the one who will be drinking this potion)'._ "Mike! Hand me four strands of Sarah's hair! Otherwise the potion won't work!" I exclaimed, and he hurried over with exactly four strands. Throwing them into the cauldron, mike shouted the word "Six!". Time was running out fast. I had completed half of the potion and there was still an hour and a half to go. '_Add three pixie horns, three drops of hellebore, and one rat spleen'. _I added those to the mixture.

The potion was now a bright orange and was supposed to change to midnight blue with the next ingredient. '_Leech Juice, only a dash'_. My heart sank. I was out of Leech Juice. "Five," Mikel said nervously. Just as I was about to give up hope when an owl swooped in, above my head, and dropped off a small package. ("Four!")

Catching it in midair, I read the note aloud.

"Severus,

I have received your owl and will place a substitute in your lessons for two weeks, or until you come back.

P.S. I thought you might need this."

Sincerely,

Aberforth Dumbledore."

I unwrapped the package unceremoniously and my spirits rose high. "Three!" Mikel shouted. He sent me Leech Juice! I splashed it into the potion, and it turned midnight blue just as Mike shouted "two!"

"One," Mike whispered, crumbling to the floor and sitting down. Oh no. My spirits fell. I quickly ladled some of the potion into the syringe and capped on the needle. Rushing over to Sarah, I told Mike to get out of the way. I injected it into her stomach, as she couldn't drink it herself, and within about five miniutes of suspense, her eyes opened slowly.

She groaned and attempted to sit up, but she fell back. "Wh-what happened?" she asked, holding her stomach. "I will explain it tomorrow, but right now you need rest," I answered. I poured her a goblet full of sleeping potion to help her ease her to sleep with the pain she was dealing with. "Drink it," I added as I gave her the goblet. She downed the potion obediently and handed me the empty goblet. She lied down slowly so that no sharp pains would come to where she was injected. Her eyes slowly closed and her breathing rate slowed down. When I was sure she was sleeping, I beckoned to Mike. "I need to talk to you, _upstairs_".


	9. Mike's Past

0

I did as I was told and walked up the stairs to the hallway where we had entered. Snape led me into what looked like a dining room. There was a long, black, table that shone green in the moonlight. Along the length of the table were three chairs on each side, and one at each width. _Why _did he have so many chairs? He probably never had anyone over, well he didn't seem like the person who would. "Sit _there_" he said, pointing to the chair at the very end of the table. I sat down and looked at him nervously, afraid of what he was planning on doing. Suddenly I thought I knew what he was going to do. "It's about my past, isn't it sir?" I asked, still nervous of the answer. I mean could you blame me? I had just seen the girl I love, be unconscious and in pain. The thought itself was painful to think about. I never wanted to see her like that again. "Yes, yes it is," Snape, answered gravely. "But I would like to ask you a few questions first, if that is alright," he said. "Of course," I replied.

"While you and Sarah were at the mall, did she consume anything, anything at all?" he asked. I tried to remember if we _had_ eaten anything. Obviously not _me_, because I hadn't gotten sick. "Er- I bought her a pretzel and a green slushy," I responded.

Snape continued interrogating me. "Did you eat any of it?" he asked dangerously. "No, I wasn't hungry," I replied. Snape's eyes bore into mine, what he was trying to do I will _never_ know. "By any chance, did you see the person who made the drink?" he asked curiously. "Yea, there were two people. A lady with crazy hair, thin lips, huge eyes, I mean she looked like she was _really_ stoned (A/N: if you don't know what stoned means, it means drunk). She looked like she hadn't slept in weeks, or _years_!" Snape nodded and I continued. "There was also a man. He had short blonde hair, blue-gray eyes and looked like he was in his thirty's. Oh! He also had an really pale face," I added at the last moment, finishing the description. Snape nodded once more.

"Bellatrix and Draco. They are Death Eaters. Draco's father, Lucius- the one who murdered Sarah's parents- probably asked them to poison the food," Snape said. My mouth fell open in shock. "Didn't you even have the common sense to check it for poison?" he asked angrily. "Well this morning I wasn't even aware that we had superpowers!" I yelled back.

Snape rolled his eyes. "Well, why do they have such a problem with Sarah anyway?" I asked curiously. Snape sighed and sat down at the table opposite from me. "When Voldemort was in power, my sister, Arden, and her husband, Aaron, went to fight against him. They almost succeeded, they had Voldemort on the ground unconscious and were about to kill him, but Lucius- oh that bastard!" he said angrily, slamming his fist on the table. "Lucius used the killing curse and killed them both while their backs were turned. The _coward_!" he said, putting _extreme emphasis_ on the word 'coward'. Snape looked upset and angry. "I can only assume that they want all links to them destroyed. They feel threatened because Voldemort was nearly defeated. They don't want Sarah to achieve what almost happened," Then he looked up at me and added, "Your father fought in the battle too," okay, so my dad joined in battle, I understood _that_. But I still had another question that I had been eager to get an answer for.

"What about my mom?" I asked nervously. He leaned forward in the chair a bit, looking at me with sadness in his eyes. "Your mother died giving birth, well a few hours afterward anyway," he said gravely. I put my head in my hands and ran through my hair with my fingers. Wow, that didn't take up much time. "Your father was killed while fighting Voldemort. He fought before Sarah's parents joined the battle. Sarah's parents and your parents were good friends since their school years. When your mother died, your father gave you to Hermione Granger so she could watch you while he fought. But she already had three children of her own and cracked under pressure. Sarah's parents watched you while your father fought. That was the year Sarah was born. When both pairs of parents were in battle, I would watch you two. You should know the reason that you and Sarah get along so well. The first person a baby sees is the one who they will love most of all. They also share a special connection with that person. The connection cannot be broken until both die. Mike, the first person Sarah ever saw was you.

"One day, your father, Sarah's parents and you all went out for fun. Sarah's parent's asked me to come along in case something happened. Then, a surprise battle broke out. Both pairs of parents were fighting, and they both died that day. Your father, Neville Longbottom, was killed by Voldemort himself. He did, however, manage to destroy one of Voldemort's horcruxes. You both were with me on the outskirts of it. I had to find a safe place to put the both of you. Hogwarts was my first assumption to take you, but with Dumbledore gone I couldn't risk it. There were battles there too. Nearly the entire wizarding world was involved in the battle, so there was only one option- the muggle world.

"You had relatives in the muggle world, since your mother was muggle-born. I found one of your relatives- your aunt. I modified her memory to make her think that she was your mother. She had no husband, so I convinced her that her husband died in a car accident. Sarah wasn't as easy to find a home for. I had to make sure you two were close enough to find each other. I was, and am, her only relative. Being that I was depended on by the Order I had to return to fight, but I had to find Sarah a home first. I decided to find my old muggle neighbors in Spinner's End. They had moved to Morocco, then to Italy, then to California. I finally tracked them down and modified their memories as well. I brought them to a town called Seaford, in New York. The town was large and had one school district. I made sure you two went to the _same _school district. After my work was done, I went back to Hogwarts. I had planned to come and get you after a while, when you both showed signs of magical abilities. Eventually you started a car without keys at the age of two, and Sarah made a computer explode at the age of five. But I had to wait longer, had I made my move to early, people would've thought I was stealing you from your parents. So I waited. Then I began to watch the two of you. I didn't realize who you were because your father's last name was Longbottom, and I never knew your first name. It was not until Professor McGonagall informed me of your name that I realized who you were. I was unsure if you wanted Sarah to hear this, so that is why I decided to tell you privately," Snape finished.

"Yeah, right…okay," I muttered. Snape glanced at the clock. "Listen," he said "it's already twelve thirty. Why don't you get some rest? If you go upstairs to the third floor you will find a guest room," he removed his wand from his pocket and flicked it at the levels above us. "The clothes in the drawer _should_ fit you," he flicked his wand again, "and there is sleeping potion on your bedside table if you feel that you need it," Snape finished, pocketing his wand. "I will be checking on Sarah periodically. If, for any reason, you need me, I will be downstairs with her or on the floor below the owlrey," he finished. "Okay," I said, and headed upstairs.


	10. Another Lighningbolt

Another Lightning bolt

The floor of the stairs was spotless. It was glossy and looked brand new. Did anyone ever inhabit this place other than Snape? I slipped on the stairs and hit my head on the iron railing. "AARRRGGHH!!!! Shit!" I yelled as the bang from the iron railing echoed through the manor. I put my hand to my head. It was throbbing with pain. When I pulled my hand away from my head there was a shiny, sticky substance on my fingers. I realized what it was within a few moments – blood. There was a small puddle of it on the floor as well. Could've I bled _that_ much within a matter of seconds? Wait a second. Snape was going to _kill _me for getting blood on his floor.

"Great! Snape's going to _kill_ me!" I whispered. "I HEARD THAT!" came a shout from below. I heard footsteps from below. They were coming up the stairs. A few moments later, Snape was standing beside me. "Now, _what_ was I going to kill you for doing?" he asked suspiciously. "That," I said, pointing to the puddle of blood on the floor.

He laughed. "_That?_" he grinned mischievously while he spoke. "You were worried about _that_?" "Well, I was until you laughed and started smiling like that," I replied. "Oh, that's because it's easy to clean up!" he exclaimed, taking his wand out and aiming it at the puddle. "Terego," he said, and the puddle disappeared. "Whoa," I mumbled. "Now," he said, pocketing his wand and turning to me. "Where did you start bleeding?" he asked.

My hair was matted with blood, but it was easy to find the cut. It stung terribly. My hair was stuck inside of it and wouldn't come out until Snape excruciatingly removed it. "Oh for Merlin's sake!" he muttered, "Not again!" under his breath. I didn't dare ask. The cut was throbbing with pain, especially when Snape ran his fingers over it. "Keep your hand over that cut, and follow me," Snape ordered.

0

"Oh for Merlin's sake, not again!" I muttered. The cut on Mike's head, though it was bleeding terribly, had the definite shape of a lightning bolt. The cut also happened to be on top of his forehead. It was going to be Potter all over again. He had already stood up to me, and shouted at me for that matter.

I ran my fingers over the cut to wipe away some of the blood. Mikel winced. "Keep your hand over that cut and follow me," I ordered. I led him downstairs and opened the door to one of the many potion cupboards. Now, _where_ did I put that potion? Veritaserum, Polyjuice Potion, Monkshood, Wolfs bane, where _was_ it? Through clanking and removal of various vials I finally found the potion I was looking for behind the Draught Of Peace. "Here," I began, handing Mike the container. "Rub that on your cut," I told him. He reluctantly scooped some of the orange paste onto his fingers and handed me back the container. Mike spread the paste over his cut and winced. "Don't worry, it's supposed to feel like that," I assured him as his eyes began to water.

I sighed and placed the container back onto the shelf, taking another one out. "This one should help the pain subside," I said to him. He grabbed the container greedily, unscrewing the cap and taking a fistful of the blue goop. He rubbed it on his forehead. "Oh thank god," he whispered as I took the container back and took out one last potion- Dittany. "What _was_ that orange stuff?" he asked breathing deeply. "Cleaning solution. The strongest one I had. Here," I began, handing him the vial. "This one is going to sting a bit, but not _nearly_ as bad as the first one," I added quickly. "Put two drops of it on the cut and it should begin to heal," I said. He took it, tilted his head back, closed his eyes and allowed two drops to fall out of the vial and onto his cut.

Green mist began to rise from the cut. "Ahhhh.." he whispered, the effect must have been quite soothing. He positioned his head to face me. "Thanks sir," he said meaningfully. I smiled. "Save the 'sir' and 'professor' for Hogwarts. Around here, you can call me Severus," I told him. "Really?" he asked, bemused. "Yes, _really_," I replied. I looked up at the clock, then turned to face Mike. "It's already one thirty in the morning. I think we should both get some sleep. We might even go to Diagon Alley tomorrow, if Sarah feels up to it," I said. "Okay," he replied, nodding. With that, we both headed up to our rooms and got some well deserved rest.


	11. Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

0

When I woke up my body ached all over; especially my stomach. Last night was _terrible_. Those nightmares I had, before Uncle Severus saved me, were slightly disturbing. During about half of them, I was surrounded by black hooded figures that came closer and closer; shooting spells, green jets of light flying everywhere until one of them hit me. About two of the nightmares involved Dementors sucking the soul, or life, or whatever out of me. Another one was Uncle Severus dying, and the other two were one of my worst fears, Mike being killed. I didn't want to think about it.

I felt very lonely down here. It was extremely dark and the walls and floor were made of stone. It sort of reminded me of the dungeons at Hogwarts, except newer. My stomach growled and I groaned in unison with it. Despite the pain from last night, I was hungry. I heard footsteps coming downstairs. Moments later, Uncle Severus was walking down the stairs, closely followed by Mike. There was something different about Mike. I realized it at once. Mike had a lightning bolt scar on top of his forehead.

"Good morning Sarah," Uncle Severus greeted me. "It's morning? Really? I'd_ never_ be able to tell from down here. It's like a black hole down here!" I replied, Mike smirked from behind Uncle Severus. "Yes, well I know it's dark down here, but when you go upstairs you'll see the sun," he replied with a sigh. "So, how are you feeling?" Uncle Severus asked. "Well, other than the fact that my body aches all over from yesterday, I'm okay I suppose," I replied, shrugging, although shrugging hurt tremendously. "Well, I was thinking, that if you are up to it, we could all go to Diagon Alley and get your supplies," he said. "Really? I want to, but my whole body feels- er-well I don't know exactly _how_ to put it, but it's not good," I said. My mind was still groggy from the night before, so I wasn't _exactly_ sure what I had said. I hoped it made sense.

"I think I have just the thing to help with that," Uncle Severus said before disappearing into the potions cupboard. "Hey," Mike whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hey," I said smiling. I tried to prop myself higher on the pillows, but it didn't work. "Er- Mike?" I began. "Yeah?" he asked quietly. "Um… What happened to your forehead?" I whispered. "Where?" he asked. I _hated_ it when people needed it spelt out for them. "Your forehead. Right- there," I said as I touched the scar, which looked like raw skin. He winced and gently pushed my hand away. "Oh, that. I fell down the stairs and hit my head on the railing, no biggy," he said dismissively. "Well, how did it heal so quickly?" I asked. "Your Uncle gave me a couple of different potions to put on it. One of 'em stung, the other one made the stinging go away, and the last one felt like ice on a burn," he explained.

Uncle Severus came out of the potions cupboard holding a vial full of bright green liquid. "Here," he said handing me the vial. "Drink this, it should make you fell _much_ better," I took the vial and asked "Er- Uncle Severus, what is this stuff?" "Strengthening Solution. It'll strengthen your immune system and make you feel a lot healthier than you do now," he said informatively. I downed the solution and ,immediately, I felt as if 100 pounds had been lifted from my body. My mind was no longer fuzzy. Well, it kind of was being that I had woken up around fifteen minutes ago, but in essentials it was clear. I felt fit, healthy, and strong. The potion _definitely_ worked. "Wow!" I exclaimed, my eyes opening wide. I hadn't felt this fit since I was five.

"So, do you feel up to it?" he asked. "What?" I asked, eyeing him questioningly. "Diagon Alley, remember?" he asked. "Oh yeah! Yeah, I definitely want to go!" I exclaimed. "Well, lets eat breakfast, get you dressed, and go," he said. "When we get there I'll bring the two of you to Ollivander's wand shop and buy the both of you your wands. Then I'll get the two of you Hogwarts robes, spell books, cauldrons, etc." he explained to us. "Er- can we eat now?" I asked rapidly. "Why, of course," he replied quite calmly. "What exactly did you have in mind?" he asked, leaning against the stone wall. "Honestly, right now, I could eat anything," I confessed. Uncle Severus took a moment to think. "How about bagels?" he asked. Were bagels the _only _muggle food he knew of? Oh well, it would have to do. "Sure," I replied, nodding in approval.

"Come upstairs, I'm sure I could transfigure some clothes for you," he said, leading the way upstairs, to which I had never been. It was bright with sunlight. Uncle Severus _had_ said it was going to be a sunny day. I couldn't wait to get to Diagon Alley! Uncle Severus took his wand out and flicked it at the ceiling. "Mike, take Sarah up to your room and let her choose from the clothes in the third drawer," Uncle Severus told him, and Mike led me upstairs.

0

I took a pitcher of pumpkin juice out of the fridge and laid out a basket of bagels. I began to ponder about Mike. What would people say, or even think, when they saw his scar? They're going to think that he's Potter's son, no doubt. This trip to Diagon Alley was going to be a memorable one, that's for sure. Sarah and Mike came downstairs and ate. After they were done eating, we headed outside. "Are the two of you ready?" I asked. "I guess," they both replied, shrugging.

0

Snape grabbed onto my shoulder and Sarah's shoulder. Next thing I knew, we were swirling through darkness, faster and faster, until our feet slammed hard onto the ground. I tumbled over on the ground and bumped my head on a wall. "What the hell?" I asked, to no particular person, bewildered at the sudden apparition of a wall. "Come on, get up," Snape said irritably, bending down and extending a hand to help me up. Once I was standing at my full height, Snape extended both of his arms to display something. "Welcome to Diagon Alley!" he exclaimed brightly.


	12. Ollivander's Wand Shop

Ollivander's Wand Shop

_A special thank you to all the people who are reading this. Sorry it took so long to update! After all, I __**am**_ _in 7__th__ grade, and I have two older sisters. Free time on the computer is not so easily accessed. Oh, p.s. to my teachers: you can click the review button at the bottom of the page to send a review and tell me what you think of the story so far._

Ollivander's Wand Shop

"_This_ is Diagon Alley?" I asked in disbelief, for it was much bigger than I had ever imagined. "Yes, isn't that what I _just_ said?" Snape responded quite coldly.

0

"Well, lets go and get your wands then, shall we?" Uncle Severus sort of suggested. Mike and me nodded, smiling. We walked down the cobble-stoned street and everyone stared at Mike as we did. There wasn't a large amount of people, for the term had started about two months ago, but crowds of heads turned our way as we passed.

I heard Uncle Severus mutter, "Hide your scar!" to Mike, and he obediently did so, flattening his hair over the lightning bolt scar that he was now left to deal with. He sort of looked like Harry Potter. I mean he had the glasses, the unusual untidy hair, and the scar. He looked like he could have been a stunt double for him.

We finally stopped at a shop called 'Ollivander's Fine Wands Since 392 B.C.' "Inside," Uncle Severus commanded. Mike and I entered the shop, followed closely by Uncle Severus. He slammed the door behind us. "Ollivander? Ollivander?" Uncle Severus looked into the back of the shop, of which was behind the counter. "OLLIV-" "There's no need to shout Severus," an old man with puffy, white, frizzing hair said softly. Uncle Severus glared at him menacingly. "Uncle Severus, who is this?" I asked, indicating to the man who was approaching toward us steadily.

"Since _when_ have _you_ become an uncle?" he asked, a look of pure curiosity adorning his expression. "Oh, it seems I have forgotten my manners. I am Ollivander, maker of fine wands since-"

"392 B.C." I cut him off in mid sentence. "I read the sign outside," I explained briefly. Ollivander smiled in a way that was almost like he was overjoyed that _someone_ had actually read the sign outside, as if no one ever did.

"Well you're very observant, aren't you? Severus, who is this?" he asked, pointing to me with an interested twinkle in his eyes.

Uncle Severus took hold of me by the shoulders and moved me behind him. "It's not polite to point Ollivander. Surely you would have learned _some _type of respect for newcomers after all this time?" Uncle Severus said quite crossly. Taking a moment to savor the expression that had flooded Ollivander's face, due to the snarky remark Uncle Severus had so obviously insulted him with. "In any case, who this is, is none of your concern. So, just shut up and do your job," Uncle Severus hissed, still glaring dangerously at Ollivander.

Ollivander seemed slightly taken aback by the remark, but retained his composure. He seemed, if possible, cheerier than before. "Ah, Severus, it would make my job easier if I knew _who _I sold _what _wand to," he said quite cheerfully. Uncle Severus eyed him suspiciously.

"Fine. If you _must_ know, Ollivander, this is my niece," Uncle Severus said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Well, Severus, I figured _that_ out when she called you 'Uncle Severus'. I _meant_ what is her _name_," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Uncle Severus glared at him. Apparently, and I couldn't blame him, he didn't like being told off by some old man. "Her name is on a need to know basis. And honestly, I don't think you need to know it," he snapped.

"Ah, what harm could it do?" he asked cheerfully.

"A _lot_ more than you know Ollivander. Now, could you stop pestering me tediously and get the two kids their wands?"

"Aw, come on Uncle Severus. He seems like a nice guy, what's the big deal if he knows my name? Maybe he'd know something about my parents!" I pleaded relentlessly for about three minutes.

Uncle Severus was getting agitated. He bent down to level with me. "Sarah, Mike and myself have a _lot_ to explain to you when we get back to the manor. I just so happen to know quite a lot about your parents, being that I was _actually related_ to them," Uncle Severus whispered quite calmly.

"_So,_ her name is Sarah?" Ollivander teased. "And the boy's name is Mike?" Mike and me nodded. Mike smirked at the dangerous, annoyed, threatening look that Uncle Severus gave Ollivander. "Am I correct?" he asked, still smiling.

"Listen to me Ollivander. If you tell anyone or if Sarah _somehow_ winds up in _any_ sort of danger-" Uncle Severus grasped Ollivander's robes by the neck, "-I _swear_, I will hunt you down and curse you into oblivion," at this point, Uncle Severus had taken his wand out and pointed it _directly_ at Ollivander's chest. "Do you understand?" he asked dangerously.

Ollivander was staring at the wand. "Y-yes, of course Severus," Ollivander replied quietly, slightly shaking with nervousness as Uncle Severus released him. "Er- okay then," he began as Uncle Severus lowered his wand and eventually pocketed it. "Sarah, you first. If you don't mind," he said. "Which arm is your wand arm?" Ollivander asked me.

"Well, I write with my right hand, if that helps," I answered, quite confused as a tape measure began to take measurements by itself. Ollivander disappeared into a row of shelves filled with small boxes. He walked back with four of them. "Here, try this," he told me as he held out the first wand. I took hold of the handle. The wand was not pleasing to look at, or hold. It looked like a branch that was bent and scratched, and the handle felt like a thorn bush.

I waved it in the register's direction and around fifty gold galleons, silver sickles, and bronze knuts poured out of it, hitting Ollivander and Uncle Severus in the face. Uncle Severus stared at me with a look that clearly said '_put it down…NOW!_' "No, no, defiantly _not,_" Ollivander muttered as I placed the wand carefully on the counter.

"Try this one," Ollivander held out on aqua-blue wand that shone sliver at the handle. I waved it in mike's direction, realizing that it was a bad idea after I did so. A jet of water, like a waterfall, fell on top of mike, soaking him in ice-cold water.

"What the bloody hell was that for?!" Mike shouted angrily.

"Sorry! I didn't do it intentionally!" I apologized, as sincerely as I could. I placed the wand back inside its box.

"It's fine," he grumbled as Uncle Severus flicked his wand in Mike's direction, drying him instantly.

"Try this. Phoenix feather and dragon heartstring, thirteen inches, perfect for potion making," Ollivander said, smiling at Uncle Severus, who only glared back. As if a wand would make him happy.

I grasped the wand, as I had with the others. I felt the way I did when Mike and me first held hands. It was a feeling of accomplishment and I liked it. A faint glow was coming, if possible, out of me. It was green, but it changed color constantly. From green to blue, to purple, to red, to orange, to yellow, and back to green, fading away. Though the glow discontinued, the feeling stayed.

"Remarkable," Uncle Severus muttered as Ollivander grumbled "Unusual, quite unusual."

Uncle Severus rounded on Ollivander. "What's so unusual about that?" he asked angrily.

"In all my years of selling wands, I've never seen that happen," Ollivander explained, bewildered by what had happened.

"Never?" I asked, slightly fearful.

"Why, no I haven't, but who is to tell what will happen when the wand chooses the witch or wizard? Nobody knows what is to happen!" Ollivander replied.

"Well, we don't have all day Ollivander. Can we get Mikel his wand now?" Uncle Severus asked impatiently.

Ollivander stopped staring at me to look at Uncle Severus. "Yes, of course," Ollivander replied.

"I write with my right hand as well," Mike said, the measuring tape took his measurements by itself as well. Ollivander, again, disappeared into the rows of shelves. He came back with an armful of boxes.

"Here you are," Ollivander said brightly, handing Mike a mahogany colored wand. "Birchwood and Dragon heartstring, excellent for charms," Ollivander said, trying to make Uncle Severus cheerful. But in all my time of seeing him in public, Uncle Severus was never cheerful. At the Manor he wasn't _as_ gloomy and sarcastic as usual; it lessened, but still…

Mike took hold of the handle and waved it at a vase of flowers. The vase shattered, sending bits of blue porcelain (I hope I spelt that correctly- it's that clay kind of substance that's really fragile if you drop it) everywhere. Everyone ducked except Ollivander. He got a particularly bad haircut from one of the shards that flew in the direction of his head. Luckily, he jumped to the side when it flew his way.

"No offense or anything Mike, but I'd prefer that you pointed at objects that that, gee, I don't know…DIDN'T TRY TO KILL ME!" I shouted at him. Had I not have ducked a large shard of the broken vase would've stabbed me straight in the chest.

"It's not like I _knew_ that was going to happen!" Mike retorted angrily. He face was wrenched with anger, fear, and nerves. I felt bad that I had shouted at him. He _was_ right after all. He didn't know, well I don't think he did.

"Listen, I'm sorry I yelled. I really shouldn't have. You were right. I mean, I didn't know the Galleons were going to hit Ollivander and Uncle Severus, and I _certainly_ didn't know that I was going to soak you with water. I didn't know, so how could you have? I suppose I was frightened. Being nearly killed does that to someone. But I'm sorry I shouted," I apologized.

"There's no need for you to apologize. It's my fault, really. After seeing what happened when you tried out your wand I should've been more careful. You had a reason to yell. Hell, I nearly killed you! I'm the one at fault. So don't apologize. There's no reason for you to do so." Mike apologized.

"Oh Mike! You are probably one of the best guys I have ever met!"

Uncle Severus made a noise that sounded like "Hmph!"

I turned to face him. "Apart from you of course Uncle Severus!"

I faced Mike again and hugged him tightly. "You really are the best guy I have ever met." I whispered.

"And you're the best girl I've ever met." He whispered back in near silence.

I felt the warm, prickly feeling again. I opened my eyes to see Uncle Severus & Ollivander both staring at us with curiosity. Ollivander's mouth was slowly gaping in awe.

"Remarkable," Uncle Severus said as at the same time Ollivander muttered "Unusual."

I looked in the mirror on the wall as Uncle Severus began to argue with Ollivander. Mike and I were emitting a strange glow- like when we held hands up at the library. The glow was red and gold and was brighter around Mike. A transparent, gold, lion walked around us and roared so loud that Uncle Severus and Ollivander stopped fighting.

Finally Ollivander got the nerve to speak. "Er- shall we get Mikel's-"

"Wand?" Mike finished the sentence and a dark brown wand flew into his open hand. "Well, I think it found me," Mike said, quite amazed.

The same thing happened to him as my wand did for me. A ribbon of red light encircled him and changed all colors until returning to red. Then, the light faded away.

Ollivander turned to Uncle Severus- awestruck. "Severus… is it… do they…can it…" he couldn't seem to complete any of his questions, but Uncle Severus understood none the less.

"Yes Ollivander, they do. And it is stronger than I thought." Uncle Severus muttered in response.

Of course I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

"Sarah, I'll explain later because I'm guessing you haven't the slightest idea of what we are talking about." Uncle Severus said.

"Well you've guessed correctly! I haven't the foggiest idea of what's going on. But it _would_ be nice to know!" I responded harshly.

"Then we'd best hurry up. Ollivander we'll take the two wands, then we'll be off." Uncle Severus told Ollivander.

"That will be twenty-three Galleons. Twenty-five if you want the guarantee." Ollivander said.

"Knowing these two? We'll take the guarantee." Uncle Severus said, taking a rather large pouch of money out of his pocket and purchasing the wands.

While Uncle Severus was paying, Mike led me to a dark, dusty corner in the shop. "They were talking about a connection we have… a magical one. Apparently I was the first person you saw when you were born. Your uncle will explain the rest later." Mike muttered, his nose about an inch from mine.

"What's going on here?" Uncle Severus asked accusingly.

"Nothing" Mike and I responded in unison.

Uncle Severus's eyes bore into mine, as though searching for something to comment or consult me about, but apparently did not find one, for he raised an eyebrow and said "Well, let's be off" and les us out of the shop.

"Goodbye Mr. Ollivander!" I called back, jabbing Mike in the ribs, indicating for him to follow my lead.

"OOH! Bye Mr. Ollivander!" he called back, clutching the spot where I jabbed him.

"Goodbye Sarah! Same to you Mike!" Ollivander called back.


	13. Accidental Magic

LOL

_LOL! I'm finally getting things done! Well, not as soon as I'd hoped, but my sisters aren't home at the moment, so I'm taking advantage of the moments- there may not be many more like this! I'm sooooo happy right now! Please read and review! _

"Follow me," Uncle Severus ordered, as we followed him to the Apothecary. "Wait out here while I buy your supplies for potions." Uncle Severus commanded.

"Wait! Uncle Severus! How do you know what supplies we need?" I asked curiously.

"Brilliant memory she's got…" he muttered to himself. "Don't you remember what I said when we were in that _wretched_ muggle mall? Obviously not. _I_ am the potions master at Hogwarts. _I _am the one who sets the list of ingredients and supplies student need. Therefore, I know perfectly well what you need, please do not question me if I happen to know what I am doing." He said coldly.

I felt so stupid. He just publicly embarrassed my by criticizing my memory. Did I mention we were in public? Anyway, I decided to fight back.

"Why aren't _we_ allowed in there?" I whined, gesturing to Mike and myself.

"Because, I'm not sure I want all of Diagon Alley knowing I have recently acquired a niece. I'd rather that people found out little by little, instead of one big-" he imitated a complete idiot's voice, "-'whoa, dude! Look! Snape's got a daughter!' few people knew of your mother so that will most likely be their reaction. And let me make this _perfectly clear_. I do _not_ need half of the wizarding world thinking I have an abandoned daughter." Uncle Severus stated plainly, and walked inside.

"It's not fair! It just isn't! Why cant he just be nice for once!" I whined.

"Well, he's probably just trying to protect his reputation. That's all, really. You're overreacting. He's probably feared around these parts, and doesn't want to show any emotion. I mean that's what the books say." He said, defending Uncle Severus.

"Sure take _his_ side." I muttered. "I wonder who _that_ is," I said, indicating to a pale boy, a year or two older than myself, running down the street, a grown woman chasing after him.

"Honestly! You're not my mother Clarisse! Go home! Just because I'm your younger brother, it doesn't mean I cant find a goddamn store!" he shouted, his sister scurrying after him.

The boy saw us and locked eye contact. For some strange reason, it hurt. Mike, apparently hurt also. Then again, it could've been his scar.

The pale boy walked over to us, robes billowing behind him in the breeze. I had to admit it, he was kind of cute. I smiled as he approached.

"Good afternoon, who might you be?" he asked, all too rudely.

"Er- I'm Sarah, and this is Mike." I shook hands with the boy, as did Mike.

"What's your name?" Mike asked curiously.

"Mathew. Mathew Malfoy. Brother of Scorpius Malfoy, and that idiotic excuse for a human being over there-" he pointed to his sister, who, somehow, still could not find him. "-Son of Draco Malfoy and grandson of Lucius Malfoy." He said proudly.

Fury raged inside me. How could I have thought he was cute?! This was the grandson of the man who murdered my parents? I had the urge to curse him then and there, but Mike held me back.

"Calm down! Do you realize what kind of trouble we'd be in if we started a fight?" he warned.

"Yes, I _do_ realize, and I don't need your consent to do so. Now let-go-of-me!" I shouted, pulling my arm out of his grip.

Mike's scar had shown through his blonde hair. Malfoy noticed it immediately.

"Is that a _scar_? It looks like Potter's scar! Are you Potter's son?" he asked dangerously.

"No!" Mike stated clearly and definitely.

"Good. Potter was a loony anyway, my father told me all about him. He could have been in Slytherin but decided not to be! And that's not all either! He had all sorts of weird, poor, ignorant friends. Like Weasley, Granger, Longbottom-"

"Shut up." Mike said.

"ooh! Sticking up for Longbottom eh?" Malfoy said tauntingly.

"I said shut up. If you know what's good for you, you'll leave us alone." Mike warned.

"And if I don't?" Malfoy teased.

"Just leave us alone!" I said.

He laughed. "And _why_ would I do that? I haven't annoyed people like this in months! Why would I give up these precious moments?"

"LEAVE US ALONE!" Mike and me shouted. Malfoy, somehow by magic, flew into the air and was slammed against the wall so hard that he was now currently unconscious.

His sister, finally realizing where he was or hearing the crack of bone against the stonewall, came rushing over.

"You'll pay for this, boy! My mother won't be pleased in the slightest when I bring my brother back! I'm warning you now! You'll pay!" she shrieked in tones that sounded like a cat being ran over with a steamroller.

"Your _brother_" Mike spat "deserved what he got! So shut the bloody hell up!" Mike shouted back.

Uncle Severus stepped out of the store, as if the situation wasn't bad enough already! "Now _what_ have you done to Mr. Malfoy?" he asked dangerously.

"Honestly, we don't know!" I answered, panic-stricken. Mike nodded alongside me. He stared deeply into my eyes and I could see the event occurring once more. The memory was so fresh, and he must have seen it perfectly clear, for he nodded.

"Contillia, Mr. Malfoy will be fine. As for these two, I will speak to them _later_." He said sternly.

After one last deadly glare from Contillia Malfoy, she picked up her brother and walked away.

"Honestly Uncle Severus, we haven't the slightest idea of-" he held a hand up to stop me from talking. Shopkeepers were now emerging from their various shops.

"We will discuss this later." He said, and I fell silent.


	14. The Closet

Lmao, I didn't realize in the last chapter I changed Malfoy's sister's name! Lmao!! **There is a lot of cursing in this chapter**, just to warn you. Sry I haven't updated in a while, but summer is nearly here, so I'll b updating more often. Anyway, sisters aren't home, so I'm typing this now before they come home. Enjoy!

After Uncle Severus bought us our supplies (he took the money from Mike's Gringott account for he wasn't his guardian, thus he did not have to take responsibility for Mike financially), which took hours, might I add, with us waiting outside every shop as well! Well, anyways, we headed back to the manor after that. I couldn't really call it home, nor was I going to, for I had only lived there for a day. And not to mention, when I _was_ there, I was unconscious. I had only been conscious in there for about an hour and a half, not nearly long enough to call the place home.

We apparated and landed on the lawn. I still wasn't used to the sensation and landed face first after stumbling forward a bit, my mouth now full of grass. I spat it out quickly, but what didn't go away quickly was the taste. "Gross!" I whispered.

"Come on! I haven't got all day to wait!" he said coldly, tapping his foot impatiently. As we walked up the front lawn, I realized how large the manor actually was. There must have been five or six floors, with six windows that were the size of mini vans. If each room had one window, then there were at _least_ 'six times two' I thought…well that equaled twelve! Twelve rooms on each floor! Twelve times five equals…um…sixty! (lol I had to use a calculator for that one! Didn't realize how large the amount would be so don't be all like "preposterous! He has no friends so he has no need for so many rooms!") Mike started to scratch at his scar as if he was trying to rip the skin off.

"You alright?" I asked in a hushed whisper. We were both behind Uncle Severus, who seemed pretty angry with us.

"Yeah, fine…..never been better. Why wouldn't I be?" He snapped at me.

"Well, you kinda look like you're trying to rip your skin off. Last time I checked, that wasn't a good thing." I snapped back, in the snapeish manner.

"Oh, that….well…it's just…..lets just follow your uncle…" he stammered, avoiding the question _and_ eye contact.

We walked. That didn't mean I couldn't talk at the same time.

"What the fuck is up with you Mike!" I whispered.

"Why the hell do you care? It's my shit I've got to deal with! Just… I don't want to get in trouble right now. Lets walk." He snapped.

"Mike! You know more about me than I know about myself. All I ask of you is that you tell me what's wrong." I said, pretty cold, to say myself.

"My scar itches! Happy now? Jesus Christ! Why the hell do you care?" he was near shouting.

"I don't smartass! I just wanted to say maybe if you WASHED YOUR HANDS before you decide to TOUCH YOUR FACE maybe you wouldn't have as many goddamn fucking pimples!" I said, walking in front of him to directly behind Uncle Severus.

He (meaning Mike) scowled at me in disgust. I stuck my tongue out at him. Then, he flipped me off, I did the same to him, except with two hands.

Once we were inside, Uncle Severus turned on his heel and stood, staring at us with an expression even _I_ couldn't decipher. Was it anger? Shock? Worry? Perhaps even fear? Whatever it was, it wasn't good, and it gave me such a pang of guilt that I wanted to get out of the hallway then and there, but something in my heart wouldn't allow me to do it. We were probably going to receive detention for what we did to that four-foot bastard. On the bright side, my revenge on the Malfoys had truly begun.

Uncle Severus led us into somewhat of a dining room. Well, it had a dining table.

00000000000000000000(when pattern like this, or similar, occurs, P.O.V. changes)

Sarah and I entered the dimly lit room where Snape had told me about my father and interrogated me about Sarah's poisoning. I didn't like it in here, but what would Snape care?

"Mike, sit there" Snape said, indicating to the chair that I had sat in when he interrogated me about Sarah. Like _that_ made me feel any better!

"Sarah, sit next to him." Snape ordered. She reluctantly sat down and shot me a hatred filled look. Snape just _had_ to say 'next to him' didn't he! Stupid bloody wizard!

Sarah groaned in pain, and for some reason, I was worried. "You alright?" I asked.

"Like you care" was her hiss of a reply.

I glared at her.

"Fine! If you must know, I think the strengthening solution is wearing off. Now shut up! I don't want to get into more trouble than I already am!" she hissed in a low whisper.

"If you two are finished fighting?" Snape said impatiently.

"Sorry sir…" Sarah apologized.

"Now, what happened at Diagon Alley with Mr. Malfoy?" Snape asked dangerously.

"Honestly? We have no idea! Malfoy provoked me about my father, because he thought I was Harry Potter's son. I told him I wasn't and he said it was a good thing because Potter was a loony and had even more ignorant friends than him. Then he mentioned my father as one of them and… I… I just lost control…" I said. Just the thought of what happened… it made me want to… I don't know what it made me want to do… but murder was definitely one of the options.

"Is this _true_?" Snape asked, staring deep into our eyes as though searching for any hint of a lie, my scar seared in pain from the migraine I had all day. I clapped my hand to it as Snape stared at me suspiciously, but then I nodded.

"Listen to me and listen _closely_ for I am not going to repeat myself. When you allow a strong emotion get the better of you, there is a strong possibility that your powers can come into play, which can make near anything happen. You need to learn how to _control your emotions_ or you'll _never_ be able to _control your powers_! Understand?" he asked.

"Yes," Sarah and me said at the same time, nodding our heads.

"Good. Now, I must warn you: the Malfoy family tends to hold grudges. Matthew Malfoy will try to get revenge on the two of you, when you _least_ expect it. Make as many friends as possible. I will always be nearby, so as to catch him in the act. But there will be times when I wont be there and I need you to know that you will have to defend yourselves in those rare times. Defend yourselves, but I'm warning you now. Do _not_ use muggle fighting methods, and do _not_ be the one to cast the first spell." Snape said dangerously. Sarah and me nodded once more.

"Off to bed, the both of you. Sarah, you can stay on the floor above Mikel. The first room on the right. There is a bathroom on the end of the hall. Mike, you will have the same sleeping arrangements as before." Snape said, taking his wand out and waving it at the floor above us.

"Sarah, there are three potions in your room. The green one is strengthening solution; the purple is sleeping draught, and the orange in a healing potion. I want you to take all three, not necessarily in that order, as you will do until you recover. Understand?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sarah answered sheepishly, barely stifling a yawn of exhaustion.

"Then the two of you, get upstairs. I will see you both in the morning." He replied.

Sarah and I walked upstairs. Once we were on my floor, Sarah asked, "Where's Uncle Severus staying?"

"The floor below the owlrey." I stated.

She looked up at the higher floors and sighed. "Ok, thanks…" she said, climbing the stairs to her floor, and I walked in my room.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

I entered the room that Uncle Severus had instructed me to go to. It looked fairly comfortable from a distance, but the lights were off, so I wouldn't know until the morning because I wasn't turning on the lights at this point on the day. Plus, I didn't know where the light switch _was_.

The only thing I could see was three potions, each emitting their own bright color in light. Closing the door, I opened the dresser and changed into green striped pants and a sparkling silver nightshirt. The floor was as cold as ice. God I wish I had slippers, I thought.

I could see a closet at the other side of the room. I walked over to it and opened the door. "Yes!" I muttered, as I saw slippers on the floor. "Perfect!" I said as I slipped them on my foot, it was so comfortable, and they fit my foot perfectly.

I peered inside the closet. There were volumes and volumes of old books, bound in leather, the gold lettering fading away due to their age. Some books, however, I could make out the cover, but not completely. Yet some of the other books were in different languages, or even runes.

There was also a very, very old potions textbook. I picked it up and flipped through the pages. The half-blood prince! Of course! I thought, hitting myself in the head from the stupidity of my surprise. I was _his_ book. I mean, he _was_ the one who wrote in it. He was, and is, the half-blood prince.

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. _Oh shit! What if I'm not supposed to be in here!_ I threw the slippers and the book back in their original places, or else he would've realized I was in there. I downed the three potions and slipped under the covers as quickly as I could. And apparently I was just in time because the door opened shortly afterward.

Uncle Severus creaked open the door to my room. I heard the door shut, but I still heard footsteps in the room. I felt another blanket being placed on top of me. I heard the closet door open and close, then footsteps towards the door. With the door opening, I heard Uncle Severus whisper "Goodnight Sarah," before shutting the door and me drifting into unconsciousness.


	15. Stupefy!

OK, I'm typing this as fast as I can so that I can post this as soon as humanly possible

_OK, I'm typing this as fast as I can so that I can post this as soon as humanly possible. I would like to thank my new beta reader, well my first and only beta reader, SeverusSnapelvr14. Ok, I'm gunna stop talking now. Enjoy!_

The next day I went down to the kitchen, (which took me a full fifteen minutes to find might I add.) and found Uncle Severus filling out and signing various papers. He looked up from his work as my foot made a small noise as it touched the floor. It was mildly creepy. "Good morning," He spoke in his silkiest voice as he smirked in response to my surprised look.  
I grumbled and walked over to the kitchen table, placed my head in my folded arms, and closed my eyes.

"Tired?" he asked.

"You think?" I replied sarcastically.

He raised an eyebrow at my sarcasm. "You'd best keep in mind who you're talking to or you'll find yourself over my knee in an instant," He threatened in a dangerous tone.

I had positively no idea what he was referring to, but I nodded and grumbled "Sorry sir…"

He nodded. "Go and eat something. I'd suggest something light, as to the fact that your stomach is still in the process of healing."  
I nodded and reluctantly got up and went to the fridge. I hoped that orange juice would get him to shut up.. I wasn't exactly in the mood for him to be shouting orders at me. I poured a glass and walked back over to the table. I took a sip, and sprayed it all over Uncle Severus. I didn't know what the _hell_ it was but it _definitely_ wasn't orange juice.

Uncle Severus fumed, looking murderously mad. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR? IT'S ALL OVER THE GODDAMN PAPERS! I'VE BEEN SIGNING THESE ALL MORNING! THAT PUMPKIN JUCE WAS _NOT_ OUT OF DATE! WHAT WAS WRONG WITH IT? EXPLAIN!" he commanded.  
"I…. I thought… I thought it was o-orange juice…" I stuttered, shaking. He hadn't ever yelled at me before. He'd made sarcastic comments, yes, but he'd never actually _yelled_. It scared me, made me fear the emotion he had just shown, and I didn't like it. I felt guilty about getting the juice not only all over him, but on his work as well.

He sighed heavily and magically cleaned up the mess off his robes and papers, which were now covered with orange dots from the pumpkin juice. "Listen, some customs in Britain are different from America. I know it's hard to adjust…" he said in an angry hiss, trying to calm himself down. "May I ask why you didn't just spit it back in the glass?"  
"Because that would be gross!" I said.  
"And you spraying whatever was in your mouth at me wasn't 'gross'?" he retorted.  
"I see your point," I reluctantly agreed.

He nodded, winning the argument. "Exactly."

"So…where's pimple face?" I asked him, meaning Mike.

"Who?" he asked.

"Pimple face," I said slowly. He stared blankly back. "Oh come on!

Yesterday he gave me all this bullshit about me caring and stuff," I said, at Uncle Severus's obvious confusion. "OH BLOODY HELL! I'M TALKING ABOUT MIKE!" I shouted, but not in anger...yet.  
"You really need to learn to control your temper," He said.  
"Like you do _such_ a good job at it," I muttered to myself.

"What was that?" he asked stiffly.  
"N-Nothing," I said, and he glared back.

"Mike is still asleep. He fell down the stairs again last night." He said, smirking to himself. "Did he fall down the stairs a lot in your old school?"

"I don't really remember. He probably got beaten up a lot, though. I mean have you seen him? His arms are like string!" I laughed, but Uncle Severus didn't say anything in reply.

"I have to do some registration work, after you eat why don't you do something productive?" he said after a few moments of silence.

I raised an eyebrow. "And by productive you mean…"

"I mean productive, like leaving me alone and going to go practice spells. Why not try some stunning spells with Mike?" he suggested.

I pondered that for a moment. It would be a nice way to start the day. Nice for me, at least… stunning spells _on_ Mike. I imagined him flying towards the wall like Malfoy did yesterday. Strangely, it sounded like fun. This was going to be a- how did Uncle Severus put it? Productive. Yes, this was going to be a _very _productive morning.

"Sarah?" I heard a familiar voice call distantly. "Sarah?" There was a blur moving back and forth in front of my face, but I paid no attention to it.

"SARAH SNAPE! Would you listen?!" Uncle Severus snapped.

I shook my head to rid myself of the fantasy. "Sorry Uncle Severus."

He glared. "You can't just get lost in a dream world that easily! You must learn self control!" he said angrily.

"It is an unfortunate truth that I do so easily get lost in a world of my own…" I said, grinning.

"Eat. Then go get dressed. I haven't the time to keep watch over you to make sure you do such simple tasks that are most likely to be ignored by you." He stated in a tone that plainly meant that he would discuss it no more.

"But I don't know how to cook!" I said. Well, in a way that was a lie, but I didn't want salad, soup or macaroni and cheese for breakfast.

He sighed in obvious annoyance. "I will teach you how to cook, provided that you don't complain the whole time I teach you. If you complain even once, I'll that as you don't care that much about eating."

I nodded. "I won't complain, Uncle Severus, you can count on it."

And with that, he taught me how to make eggs over easy with bacon. It was a delicious first half of breakfast, he left me to try and make the rest of the egg and bacon (he only used half of what he prepared to demonstrate). Surprisingly, it didn't look _that_ bad. The eggs were a bit runny, and the bacon was a bit overcooked, but it _was_ my first try, after all. He was a pretty good teacher. I wondered if cooking eggs was similar to creating potions. It couldn't be _that_ hard, now could it? Then again, with some greasy git breathing down your neck, you were bound to get nervous, thus- failing grades. Even if he was my uncle.

"Go get dressed!" he commanded, as I took my last bite.

"Okay! Okay! I'm going! Jeez! Calm down!" I said, running up the stairs before he could yell at me for talking back. I wasn't in the mood for a lecture.

I raced into my room and changed into a green and gray striped t-shirt and black Bermuda shorts. They were so soft. Uncle Severus could be _fairly_ nice. Okay, so he wasn't really that nice of a person, but I was sure that once I got to know him, he'd be totally different. Grabbing my wand off the bedside table, I headed to go get Mike.

I slid down the banister to the floor below me. I ran down the hall until I heard groaning in one room. I knocked. "Gusiuh! Kujgd-kjgas! Flibberdegibber!" A croaky voice from inside answered. That defiantly wasn't Mike. Even on his worst day, his voice didn't sound _that_ bad.

I opened the door. Inside was a really big troll looking creature. It had black horns and wings that looked like they could have killed me with one beat. Its eyes were bright neon green with slits for pupils. The sharp spikes along its spine and shoulders gave me a shiver down my spine. It had silver talons that would've been able to rip through steel. Its breath was extremely foul. There was a swirly silver design on its stomach and back, which clashed perfectly with the black and green scales.

I slammed the door shut, hoping it wouldn't come after me. The door shook violently. "Oh shit!" I whispered through the deafening growls of the monster inside. _This was __not__ supposed to happen!_ I thought in fear. "Oh shit. Oh shit! He's going to be really angry if I call for him, but well… maybe I should." I debated with myself.

"UNCLE SEVERUS!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. No response. At least, not one that I could hear with the monster's shallow breathing and threatening growls.

"UNCLE SEVERUS!" I shouted again. The monster roared.

"I heard you the first time!" he shouted, running down the hallway to where I was blocking the door. He moved me out of the way with great strength. Then, he opened the door. I winced in fear and shut my eyes until the point at which I saw fireworks.

That was odd. The growling and shallow breathing had both stopped. I fearfully peered inside the open doorway. And there it was. A sight I thought I'd never see. Uncle Severus was petting the monster and talking to it as if it was a baby. I couldn't help but inwardly laugh. He'd have my head on a silver platter if I did so out loud.

He looked up as I walked past the open doorway. "Not so fast. Come back here right now."

I groaned mentally. _Shit! He's going to bloody murder me!_ My heart skipped a beat. I turned around and walked into the room, my heart beating nearly out of my chest and my breathing more rapid than ever. "Y-yes Uncle Severus?" I asked in a nervous tone.

"I want you to apologize to… Findelzwig." He murmured in a deadly serious tone.

"Apolo…Findel…?" I stammered, unable to complete either word. "W-what?" I finally managed.

"Findelzwig is… was Albus Dumbledore's guardian pet. He asked me to look after it before he… well…" Uncle Severus stammered, obviously uneasy talking about the subject.

"Don't worry. I get it. He was close with Dumbledore and so were you. I'll apologize to… Findelzwig." I walked closer to the monster and kneeled at its large feet. "I am sorry Findelzwig. Please forgive me."

That was the worst move I had ever made. Findelzwig raised his head high and nodded repeatedly. "Ya! Ya!" Then he grabbed me with his human size, silver scaled fist.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, as Findelzwig raised me above his head and tightened his grip. This proved to be more excruciatingly painful than I could have ever imagined. He slammed his fist and me to the floor. "WHOA! UNCLE SEVERUS! GET ME DOWN!" I pleaded, losing my breath as my lungs screamed for air. I screamed in pain as one of the talons as he tightened his grip, piercing my skin and leaving a large gash in my chest, not near my heart thankfully, but it pierced a lung.

"STUPEFY!" Uncle Severus roared and the monster fell to the floor with a great BANG. The whole floor shuddered and I was slammed into the ground as the monster hit.

He ran over to the monster's fist and attempted to loosen the grip. "Help me… Uncle Severus..." I whispered, pain increasing with every word.

He walked over quickly and pulled the monster's fingers to loosen the grip. The talon apparently was still a few inches inside my skin, although the cut remained to be much deeper. I tried to yell in pain from the talon being removed, but only a strangled mew came out, like that of a baby. When it was fully out, it allowed the blood to flow easily from the wound.

"Shush… Hold on a moment." He said, prying the grip open as far as he could, which wasn't far. He took out his wand and muttered "Sectumsempra!" the hand with the grip on me let go completely.

--

I'd finally broken Findelzwig's grip on Sarah. That process included using a curse that could've killed her. With my careless aim, I had hit her with the deadly spell. But, it hadn't killed her yet. Her breath was ragged, and I suspected a pierced lung, and her shirt was covered in an ever-growing pool of blood. I carried her downstairs, to where I could see and treat the wound.

"It's alright," I soothed to her as she choked the tears of pain back. "Shh… Shh… it's okay… it's alright…" I helped her up onto the kitchen table; I needed a steady surface to see where and how badly she was injured.

--

He lifted up my shirt to see how badly I was wounded. Judging by the pain in my chest it was really_, really _bad. He turned his head to see the wound. He gasped. Could it have been bad enough for him to actually gasp? I panicked and covered the wound with my shirt once more, although it pained me immensely to do so.

My impromptu savior grabbed a stainless steel bowl and a washcloth. He filled the bowl with steaming hot water and soaked the cloth inside it. The cloth was soon soaked in hot water. He picked up the cloth and lifted my shirt off the wound.

"This may sting a bit." He warned.

I knew what that meant. Adults always try and make things seem not as bad when the situation is very bad indeed. Whenever I got vaccinated for something the doctors always said "It wont hurt a bit!" Boy, did they lie! For days afterward my arm would sting from the injection. So Uncle Severus saying, "This may sting a bit." it meant, "This is going to be excruciatingly painful to the point of cruelty." This didn't really help my bleak outlook at _all_.

The pain was already unbearable. I didn't know how much more of this I was going to be able to take. He wiped around the cut and I found out very quickly that it was unbearable. With no further ado, I passed out from the pain.

--

Sarah passed out, hitting the table with a thud. I kept cleaning the wound until there was no more blood on her skin. I went to the potions cupboard and pulled a bottle of stitching salve off the third shelf. I wasn't going to be able to give her anything to stop the pain; it would render the salve useless.

I mentally kicked myself. I knew Findelzwig wasn't over Dumbledore's death yet. For that matter, neither was I. And yet, I put Sarah in danger by making her apologize. I snapped on rubber gloves and looked inside the wound. It was worse on the inside than out. Her right lung had a four-inch slice of which had to repair manually, seeing as I'd done enough damage with his wand.

I conjured up a needle and thread and began his work, stitching the lung back together. She moaned in pain as the needle pierced the flesh. Just because she passed out, it didn't mean she couldn't feel what was happening to her. She tossed to her side, blood spilling and flowing onto the table. I knew I was going to have to sedate her.

"Severctum!" I exclaimed and he popped up straight next to me.

"Yes, Master Snape?" He began the formal bow, but I stopped him.

"No time. Get me a probe and syringe filled with a _strong_ sedative." I commanded.

"As you wish, Master Snape." He said, disappearing to go and retrieve what I had asked for.

Three excruciatingly long seconds later, he returned with the sterile instruments. "Thank you," I murmured without meeting his gaze, I was far too concentrated on Sarah.

I picked up the probe and looked father into the wound. Sarah cringed in pain. I took the syringe and quickly, but carefully, injected the opalescent liquid into her bloodstream by means of her left arm. She winced, but was soon feeling the effects of the sedative. Her expression became relaxed and quite peaceful.

I probed farther into her injured lung and saw something black. "Severctum, get me a pair of sterilized tweezers."

A moment later he placed them into my palm. I lifted the flesh slightly with the probe and grabbed onto the black thing with the tweezers. I gently, but forcefully, pulled it out. And there, in the confines of the tweezers was a black scale. I placed it on the table and went back to probing the lung. When I found no other unnatural objects inside, I put the probe down as well. Then, I started stitching the lung back together. The salve couldn't work on flesh so raw, especially inside the body.

Once I was done, I took the salve and gently rubbed it in on the edges of the wound. Gripping the skin so that it touched together, I let go and stitches formed to hold the skin together. I wiped the wound once more for there was a fair amount of blood on her, I lifted her motionless body and brought her upstairs to my room. I wasn't having her on the floor above that devilish monster. She was going to stay in my room until she woke, so I could keep an eye on her. She must have been in a lot of pain. The sedative only kept her still and asleep. It didn't take away _any_ of the pain.

After two hours of watching her lay motionless on my bed, I applied the salve again. She grimaced and her hands flew to where I had applied it. She moaned in pain and turned to her side, moaning again. Her breath came out in a long, pneumatic hiss, still very ragged.

Suddenly, she shot up and started coughing violently. Blood came up and I caught it in the trash bin that was lying at my feet. She looked up at me, eyes bloodshot and full of pain. The amount of blood that came up was tremendous. Eventually the coughing stopped and she sat there, trembling in shock and pain. Her eyes nervously scanned the room, searching for something. And that something was me. She looked pleadingly at me, trying to understand what had happened. Her body shook with pain.

"Your lung." I informed her, and her eyes flew to her chest where the gauze was. "There was a four inch slice in it. It was deep, Sarah. You're one lucky girl. One of the scales was even trapped inside it. It wasn't pretty." I saw a panicked look in her eyes. "But I fixed it." I finished, trying to stay calm, but the pain in her face and eyes was near unbearable to watch.

A tear slid down her cheek. "G-good-d t-thing I h-have t-two lungs-s t-then. Eh?" she smiled then grimaced in pain as another coughing fit occurred.

I gently pushed her back down onto the pillows and placed my finger on her lips in a shushing sign. "Don't speak. It's only going to make the pain worse. In a few more hours I'll be able to give you something for the pain. Just relax, it'll help."

Her expression didn't look any closer to relaxation after I had said 'hours'. She threw her head back against the pillows and clenched her jaw. 'It's not fair!' she mouthed.

"I know." I sighed. "I know it hurts. And I would gladly give you something to ease the pain, but then the salve would not heal you, it would harm you. And that salve is the only way you're going to heal at all." I said. She looked up at me weakly, her breathing still low and shaky. It pained me immensely to see her like this. Perhaps I could give her something to make her sleep…

"Sarah, it…might be possible for me to give you a stronger sleeping potion. It wouldn't take the pain away, but when the human body sleeps all the senses become dulled; including nerve. The sense being dulled, so would the pain." I explained.

She vigorously nodded in agreement to the plan and mouthed 'I don't care what you do, as long as the pain stops!'

I pulled a small vial out of my robes. I helped her into sitting position and uncorked the vial. "Every last drop." I informed, pouring the milky-white substance down her throat. That was _sure_ to knock her out for a few hours, at least till her lung was healed. Then, and only then, would she wake from the unbearable pain.

She downed the potion obediently. "Lay down, easy does it…" I said, helping her back into her original position and pulling the covers up to her shoulders. "You'll be okay… I promise…" I said as she closed her eyes and fell into unconsciousness. I leaned back in a leather chair and decided I would do the same.


	16. Bathroom Break

I blearily opened my eyes, the shaking the grogginess out of my eyesight

I blearily opened my eyes, and attempted to shake the fog of grogginess out of my head. There was a sound of cloth coming into contact with different cloth. I looked straightforward, and there was Sarah, twisting and turning under the covers, gasping in pain. A light sheen of sweat covered over her forehead. The effects of the sleeping potion must have been wearing off, but she was bound to feel the pain at some point.

My eyes shot open. How was I supposed to sleep through _this_ kind of pain! A hand caught me before I could sit up straight. It pushed me back down gently, but obviously not a force to be reckoned with. I closed my eyes and shivered involuntarily.

Something cold and wet dabbed against my forehead, I assumed it was a rag. I took a long, shuddering breath and tried to relax. But for some reason, I couldn't. The pain was just too hard to ignore. I groaned, and the rag was at my forehead once more. When I inhaled, my chest felt like it was going to rip open.

I hissed in pain. Why did everything have to happen to _me_?

"Sarah?" a voice called to me.

I opened my eyes reluctantly. "What!?" I asked in annoyance.

"Ah, so you _are_ awake!" he concluded triumphantly.

"I still don't get why I need to be here!" a different voice said, though I was sure it was a male. I recognized the first voice; it was my uncle, no doubt in my mind about it. The second one wasn't as easy to tell. But the only other person it could be would be…ugh! I didn't even want to think about it!

"Because I want you to apologize to her," Uncle Severus said in an obviously annoyed tone.

"Why should I apologize?! _I _didn't do anything to her!" Mike shouted back.

"She was looking for you when she was attacked as you very well know!" Uncle Severus practically growled.

"And that's supposed to be _my_ fault?! I don't see how you reckon that me apologizing for her doing something I had no idea she was doing is going to help! It's just stupid!" Mike grimaced.

"Just apologize for Merlin's sake!"

"No! For all I know, she could've been looking for me to hex me!"

"Fine, if you aren't going to apologize, then just go."

"That's what I've been _trying_ to get you to let me do! Good Bye!" he shouted, slamming the door behind him.

"Wha-what was tha-hat all ab-about?" I managed to choke out between coughing fits.

"It was…nothing…" he said. I didn't have the energy to argue so I'd leave it be. "Open your mouth; I'm going to give you the potion now." He said, extracting a purple colored vial from his robes.

I groaned mentally. He was going to shove it down my throat either way, so I opened reluctantly. It was only a small amount, but it tasted horrible. It had the consistency of spit and tasted like black bananas. The taste coated my tongue, and lingered.

Numbness passed through my throat and eventually spread throughout the remainder of my body. It left a coating wherever it touched. Well, at least it felt like it did. I sat up and realized how weak I was. I could barely push myself up on my elbows. Why me? Of all people, why me?

My stomach growled. It must've healed during the night. I groaned. Uncle Severus took this into notice. "I'll go get you something to eat." He said, getting up and leaving the room.

I smiled weakly; he was really doing too much. I didn't deserve all this, I just didn't. What did I do to deserve this? I hadn't done anything for him, I'd actually been even worse than I was before I met him.

He came back with a bowl of macaroni and cheese. I smiled in delight, I LOVED macaroni and cheese. Who couldn't resist the cheesy goodness?

He sat down and carefully handed me the tray. Had he been carrying a tray? Was I _that_ focused on the macaroni and cheese that I hadn't seen anything else? Once it was on my lap, I turned to him and thanked him like there was no tomorrow.

He half-smiled. "Eat your food before it gets cold."

I obediently did so, wolfing down the macaroni and cheese, barely chewing it.

"Slow down. The last thing I need is you choking. Drink some of the juice." He ordered, eyes wide.

I looked down into the amber liquid. I sniffed it, it was apple juice. "I'm allergic to apple juice…" I said sadly. I really liked the stuff, but after fifteen minutes I'd get a terrible rash. I was lactose intolerant as well, but no need to tell him that now. After all, it didn't ALWAYS bother me.

His eyes widened and he took the glass from my hand quickly. "No, Uncle Severus… not like that. It's not like I can't breathe or my throat swells up when I drink it. I just get a rash on my butt after fifteen minutes. Nothing life-threatening." I reassured. He didn't buy it.

"Anything else I should know? Are you allergic to flowers, bees, anything else?" He said, worried tone taking home in his vocals.

"Well, I'm not so sure about the bees, or any bug for that matter. If a bug comes within a foot radius of me, I run for it. And I mean really run for it.. That's why I hate going outside, there are bugs everywhere… oh and seeing them in general, dead or alive, I'll get as far away from them as possible. If they touch me, I cry, scream, and flail my arms around like I'm going mad. Once I stepped on a penny barefoot and I screamed because I thought I'd touched a bug-" Uncle Severus snickered. "-Hey! It was dark! And the one time I actually touched a fuzzy caterpillar without knowing, I screamed like I was being tortured. IT'S NOT FUNNY!" I shouted, he was full out laughing now.

He took a few deep breaths then said, "Keep in mind who you're speaking to."

"So… I've never been stung by a bee before, so I don't know if I'm allergic to them." I concluded. I kept eating the macaroni..

"Anything else?" he asked.

I didn't answer. I was almost done with my meal, so big deal if I got a stomachache later. As long as I didn't puke… that only happened with ice cream.

"Sarah?" he prodded.

I still didn't answer.

"Sarah! What else are you allergic to?!" he shouted.

"Well, its not so much of being allergic as it is that-" I began, but Uncle Sever us but me off.

"Stop procrastinating and get to the point!"

"Okay, okay… I'm lactose intolerant…" I mumbled.

"Excuse me? What was that? I can't tell what you're saying when you mumble like that."

"I. Am. Lactose. Intolerant!" I shouted, emphasizing every word.

He took the bowl from me.

"Oh come on! It doesn't happen ALL the time!"

"Doesn't mean it isn't going to happen this time. There's still a possibility that it could happen. And I'm not having you up in the middle of the night vomiting violently because of it." He said, clearly ending the discussion.

I pouted. "But there's stuff that prevents you from throwing up when your lactose intolerant, even after you've eaten lactose. I've used it plenty of times. And then there's this medication called Lactaid that you swallow before eating and it prevents people who are lactose intolerant from getting sick. I used that a lot too…" I defended.

"And I intend to give you said medication. Wizards use different types, it's a potion but essentially it gives the same effect, if not better. That's why I stopped you from eating the macaroni and cheese. I don't want to hear any whining from you about its taste, because barely any potions taste good. There are few without taste at all, but neither of the potions I'm about to give you will taste good."

"_Potions_? As in, _more_ than one?" I blanched.

"Yes. I'll be back in a minute." He said, leaving the room again.

I understood he was giving me one for my stomach, but the other one? What was the other one going to do? If I refused to take it, what would he do?

He came back in the room with two bottles and a spoon. I scowled, he wasn't joking about the second potion. Did he ever joke? He uncorked the first vial and tipped a pink, frothy liquid onto the spoon.

"Open." He said.

I reluctantly did so. He pushed the spoon into my mouth and I swallowed the liquid. It was extremely foul and left my mouth void of any moisture.

"Disgusting… absolutely disgusting…" I muttered.

He flicked my ear. "I said no complaining! One more spoonful of this potion and you're done with it." He said, pouring out the contents again.

"Oh, come on! Do I _have_ to?" I pleaded, hoping he might show _some _mercy.

"Yes, you do. Now open." He said. It was the same thing as before, except my mouth was even dryer!

He uncorked the other vial. It looked like thick tar. "No way! No way! No way! No way! I am NOT swallowing that!"

"Oh yes you are!" he said. "Open."

I shook my head 'no'.

He sighed. "Sarah, I said open up, and I meant it."

I shook my head again and buried my mouth in my knees. He sighed again and grasped my nose tightly. My mouth opened in shock and he shoved the spoon inside. He held my jaw tightly so I had no choice but to swallow the liquid. It tasted even worse than the first one.

"What _was_ that?!" I asked.

"Vitamin potion."

Bloody vitamin potion! Why couldn't he be normal and give me a capsule? But no! If he doesn't want it, it doesn't happen. I suppose he enjoys seeing me cringe as those horrid fluids seep down my esophagus. Ugly, sodding, nasty, git! Can't be a normal human being, just a bat…swooping down when least expected.

He made me stay in bed for the rest of the day. I hadn't gotten up once from the bed because of him! And now I _had_ to pee! The moment he left the room, I jumped out of the bed silently and looked under the door for his shadow, or his feet. Neither one was there, so I opened the door, walking out with my back towards the other half of the hallway.

I began walking- well, tiptoeing- to the bathroom. I'd walked three feet before I heard a clear, cold voice from behind me, making me jump about two feet in the air. "What exactly do you think you're doing?" he asked.

My heart popped nearly out of my chest. "Jesus Christ! Are you _trying_ to give me a heart attack?" I snapped, clutching my chest.

"I assure you, that was not my intention. Had I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have denied myself the privilege."

I gulped visibly.

"You _do_ know that I'm only joking," he laughed. "You know that right?" I didn't answer. "Sarah, think logically! Why on _earth_ would I kill _you_? Of all people? I would never… well if I was mad I might imagine it, but I would never do it. And I'm talking about me being livid."

"That makes me feel _loads_ better! Knowing that you have the ability to do so? Oh yes, _very_ comforting." I said sarcastically. "And knowing you would imagine it- even better!"

"Anyone can kill anyone else. It's a fact of life." He sighed. "You know what I meant Sarah. Now would you mind telling me what you're doing after I told you to stay in bed?" he ordered.

I shifted uneasily in my spot, shuffled my feet and looked at the ground. Going to the bathroom… would he punish me for _that_? I mean that's just stupid. "I…. hadtopee..."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I. Had. To. Pee." I said clearly, raising my head so I was staring him in the eye. After all, what was I supposed to do? Pee on the mattress? No, I wasn't a five year old.

He didn't look too comfortable talking about the subject. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned the other way. "GO!" he said, waving his hand at me.

I cocked my head to the side. Did he mean right here? Right now? "In the hallway?" I asked, confused. The pain medications still had me in a fog.

He turned around and stared at me in shock. "He…now…how…you…bathroom… NO NOT HERE!" he shouted in, what I took to be, rage. I hated it when he yelled at me. Whenever I got scared, my body would compress itself. Well… now I wasn't so sure I was going to make it to the bathroom.

"HOW DID IT EVEN CROSS YOUR MIND TO-" _oh no… _"-EVEN THINK ABOUT-" _he really needs to stop yelling or else… _"Wh-what are you _doing?_" his eyes traveled to the ever growing pool of yellow liquid underneath my feet.

"Umm… I really had to pee…" I couldn't stop myself…I was _still_ letting it loose. I looked down at the floor. I could feel the heat rising to my face, his niece peeing on his _wooden_ floor…_that_ would be a story to tell the house elves.

He sighed. "It's alright… come on, lets get you cleaned up. Do you still have to pee?"

"Er…not as badly…" I answered sheepishly.

He sighed again. "Come on then," he said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and forcefully walking me to the bathroom.

Once again, a thank you to SeverusSnapelvr14 for beta reading my story. Oh, and to my teachers if ur still reading this, and to Debjunk for being my first REAL reviewer that stuck with me all this way….tho I'm obviously not done with the story. Tee hee!


	17. Vaccinations

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Severus watched her the whole night, making sure that nothing was going to happen to her. Whether it was nearly falling out of his bed, or getting nearly suffocated in the covers, it was a long night.

As the sun rose, Severus backed into the shadows, easily blending in. He watched her rub her eyes sleepily as the sun filled the room with light. Severus stepped out from the shadows and smirked at what he was about to do.

"Good morning." He said silkily.

Sarah screamed and jumped, about two feet in the air, off the bed in fright. She scrambled up off the floor and lifted herself up with the help of the bed being there. Her heart was racing like mad and she could hardly breathe at the moment.

"What the _bloody hell_ was that _for_?!" she choked out.

His smirk fell. Perhaps he had taken it a _bit_ too far… But, nonetheless, he'd done it before. "Simply to tell you that breakfast is ready." And that much was true. The house elves always prepared breakfast at this time, unless Severus had told them otherwise, and he hadn't told them otherwise.

"Greasy git…" she muttered under her breath as Severus was walking out of the room. He spun on his heel, he wasn't wearing black robes, (infact he was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with a black tie and black trousers) but the same effect occurred as if he _were_ wearing robes.

"_What_ did you just say?" he hissed.

"N-nothing sir…" She clearly said.

He eyed her menacingly, then took her by the shoulder and guided her down the stairs. "Hey! I didn't do anything!" She protested.

"I never said you did." He snapped back. 'This is going to be a long day' he thought in an aggravated tone.

As they sat down, Sarah piled food on her plate. She had absolutely no problem with Mike not accompanying them- infact, she preferred it that way.

"I'm taking you down to St. Mungo's after breakfast." Severus said thoughtlessly, immersed in the Daily Prophet- they weren't such garbage anymore.

Sarah nearly choked on her food, she knew exactly what St. Mungo's was… and she HATED hospitals.

"W-why?" She stammered, trying to hide her absolute fear, unsuccessfully.

Severus sensed her fear without even glancing at her. He put the paper down and sighed. "Sarah…calm down, I just have to make sure you have your wizarding vaccinations, that your muggle vaccinations are up to date, and get some paperwork. No big deal. Now stop hyperventilating." He said.

But she couldn't stop. She felt sick to her stomach. Vaccinations…another word for injections…she shuddered involuntarily.

"And then the dentist afterward." He added.

This, though it also made her nervous, she could handle this tidbit of information. She'd been at the dentist for a larger portion of her life than anywhere else. Her friends used to call her "The million dollar mouth" because her parents had had to pay so much to keep her teeth from breaking repeatedly.

Severus was glad she didn't enter a worse state after he'd said 'dentist'. With the way she reacted to 'St. Mungo's'…

Sarah took her time with her breakfast, not in any rush to go to the hospital. Severus noticed this.

"Sarah, do you honestly think I'd ever do anything to do you harm?" he questioned, quite saddened by the look of utter anxiety on her face.

She looked up at him with fearful eyes. More than anything, she didn't want to go.

"N-no…but why can't _you_ do it? I don't get it. Aren't you qualified to do medical stuff? I mean, you fixed my lung and stomach. Please…don't make me go…" she trailed off in panic.

"What has you so afraid? I promise, I'm not going to let them hurt you. I'll always be there." He said.

She glanced down at her wrists, then sighed. "I h-haven't been to a doctor or to a hospital in like, two years. There was a certain p-part of me that my mom, w-well your old neighbor, d-didn't want the d-doctors to s-see."

His brows furrowed together. "What part?" he questioned.

"Okay…before I show you, you have to understand that I was not in a very good state of mind…and that I'm never going to do it again…"

Severus was severely interested at this point. "What part?" He repeated.

Sarah took a shuddering breath and showed him her left wrist. There were three, horizontal, identical, brown scars that were about a millimeter thick and two inches long.

His eyes widened. But she'd explained that she wasn't going to do it again, and it had happened a long time ago. She wasn't going to enter such a state with him as her guardian, no sir. Calming himself down, he stood up and brought her to the potions cupboard. He pulled out rubber gloves and a jar. He sat her down on the bench in the hallway and unscrewed the cap of the jar. Pulling on his rubber gloves, he took her wrist with one hand, and some of the jelly-like substance with the other, and began to carefully rub it over the scars.

It was like watching a movie played backwards. The scars opened slowly, then turned to scratch marks and then completely disappeared.

"If you don't mind my asking, what did you use?" He asked.

"A pen cap…" she answered.

He nodded. "Come along now. The faster we get there, the faster we get out." He said. She walked forward quickly, and Severus put his arm around her. She was his child now, and he wasn't going to let anything harm her.

Severus apparated, with Sarah, to a deserted alleyway, a block away from St. Mungo's. He veered the two of them out of the alley and to the front of the building. It looked like an abandoned clothing store, but upon entering the place, it changed on the inside.

Inside the hospital, Sarah moved closer to Severus, who tightened his grip. They made their way over to the receptionist.

"May I help you?" she said in a cheery voice.

"Yes, I have an appointment with Dr. Cox. (A/N: sry guys, I just HAD to steal Perry! XD) My name is Severus Snape." He explained.

"Snape, Snape," she repeated, searching through the papers on the desk. "Oh, here it is! 'Sarah Snape. Age 12. Hometown: Seaford NY'? Is this you, sweetheart?" She asked Sarah sweetly.

Sarah merely nodded. Wizard hospital or not, it was still a hospital. And she hated them altogether.

The woman tapped a nurse sitting beside her. "Carly, can you bring these two to room 23. I'll page Dr. Cox if he isn't there already."

Carly nodded. She made a gesture for the two to follow her and led them to room 23. Sarah crossed her arms across herself insecurely and looked around the room warily.

Severus took this into notice and walked around from behind to face her. He gripped her firmly by the shoulder. "I promised you one thing before we came here today. Do you remember what it was?" he asked.

Sarah thought back to try and remember. She didn't recall him promising anything, nothing at all infact. She looked past him, to the clear glass cabinets behind him. Sticking her thumb in her mouth, she shook her head, still refusing to look at him. She was nervous beyond belief… she thought she might pass out if she didn't calm down soon.

"Sarah, look at me." He ordered.

She stole a quick glance at him, and then looked away.

Severus squatted down to her height. He took his free hand and gripped her chin, forcing it to face his direction. "Look at me."

Sarah looked him directly in the eye, not even attempting to hide the nerve-wracking fear she was experiencing. She almost cried as an aftereffect. Tears of fear welled up in the back of her eyes.

"Sarah. Before we came here, I promised you that I would never allow anyone to hurt you. I also promised that I'd be right there, with you, and that I wasn't going to leave you. I intend to keep that promise." He said gently.

"Ok-kay…" she shuddered slightly. "B-but that doesn't help with the fact that I'm sc-cared…"

"Not in the least?"

"Okay, m-mayb-be a little… but…" She couldn't find another reason other than the fear she was feeling. "I'm still scared, Uncle Severus…" She looked down at the green and white-checkered floor, expecting him to mock her for her foolishness.

So, it came to shock her when she felt his arms wrap around her torso in a protective way. "I promise."

"Are ya done there, Dracula?" Came a voice from behind, full of sarcasm and annoyance.

Sarah and Severus both looked up to find a tall (not as tall as Severus though), 30 year old doctor with curly short hair. Severus glared at him.

"Oh-ho? What do we have here? Snivellus and his daughter?"

"Niece." Sarah and Severus snapped in the same tone and timing, then looked at each other curiously. That hadn't happened before.

Dr. Cox raised an eyebrow. He looked at the chart "'Sarah Snape', is it? It says here that you're due for vaccinations, both muggle and wizard."

Severus nodded at the information. "And you needed the legal paperwork finalizing your guardianship of her?" Perry asked Severus. Severus nodded again.

"Alright then, let's get started- shall we?" Dr. Cox said. He pulled out several needles, plastic gloves, rubbing alcohol, cotton-balls, and the vaccinations necessary. There were more than five, of that Sarah was sure. She backed away quickly and let herself retreat to the fetal position. She shook with fear and let tears flow freely.

Severus kneeled down next to her, just as quickly as Sarah had retreated. He gripped her wrists gently. "Sarah. I made you a promise. I'm going to keep it. I _swear_ to you, it's not going to hurt. It'll only feel like someone's tapping you, at worst. I'm not going to let him hurt you…"

Sarah looked up slowly, tears covering her face. "P-promis-se?"

"I promise." He said, showing her the truth in his eyes.

Sarah grabbed hold of him and hugged him tightly, not letting go.

"Are you ready for the sedative charm?" Dr. Cox asked gently.

Severus nodded for her. With a wave of his wand, Sarah fell limp in his arms. Severus only held her tighter.

Sarah's body grew tense as the needle penetrated her skin. She couldn't feel pain from it, but she could still feel the process going on. When it was all over, Dr. Cox lifted the sedative charm he'd placed earlier. Sarah rubbed her sore arm gently and cradled the red skin in her hand.

She winced. Severus noticed and whispered "I'll give you something for that when we get home."

Sarah nodded silently. Dr. Cox opened a drawer and pulled out a pile of papers, about a centimeter thick.

He took a quill out of the drawer as well, along with an inkwell. "I assume you know where to sign?"

Severus nodded. He swiftly signed in 12 places, still holding Sarah close. "Sarah, I need you to sign there…" He said gently to her, showing her the particular spot where her signature was required.

She looked up, signed the parchment, the buried herself in his chest. She was exhausted, and she didn't want to even go to the dentist. She doubted that she could make it outside without falling.

"The vaccinations may have made her a bit groggy. I'd suggest that she stays in bed the rest of the day. Have a good day." He said, and with that, Severus and Sarah went back to Snape Manor.


	18. Daydreaming

Daydreaming.

Severus and Sarah went back to the manor, Sarah clinging onto his robes to keep from falling down. When they entered the hallway, Mike was waiting there.

"What, is she sped (special education) now? Where were you guys?" He asked, heavy sarcasm in his voice.

"That- is none of you're business. Go to your room." Snape sneered at him.

"One, you're not my father. And two, I've been in my room all day. I just came down here because I felt like I was going to pass out. So, if you'll excuse me- I'm going to go eat breakfast." Mike snapped.

"If you were my son, I'd think twice about poisoning you. But being that you are in no way a blood relative…" Snape threatened.

"If you were my father, I'd gladly drink it. You think I care if I live or die? If you do, you've got another thing coming."

Severus shot him a glare that would have sixth years pissing themselves. Mike just shrugged it off and walked to the kitchen.

Severus helped Sarah up the stairs and into her room, and then he left to go deal with Mike's anarchy.

Sarah sat on the bed with a tired groan. She lay down and stared at the ceiling. She felt completely exhausted. Lying on her side, she decided to get some rest. The room spun, and she felt oddly dizzy. Then she fell into an uneasy asleep.

About an hour later, she woke in a trance-like state. She walked down the hall to find Mike pacing his room in anger.

"Whadda you want?" He snapped. "Are you…you're sick!"

"Yes…I p…probably am…and…you are and ugly jerk…a-and tomorrow…I'll be h-healthy…and you…will still be…an ugly jerk…" she slurred out as a response.

"At least I don't have a greasy git for an uncle. You're gunna turn out just like him, d'ya know that?" he sneered, laughing at his own comment.

"Shut…shut up."

"It's a free country. I'll do whatever I please, you greasy prat."

"One. It's ENGLAND. We're not in America anymore. The rules have changed. And two, I told you to _shut up_." She said at an annoyingly fast pace.

"And I said no. I, being the ugly jerk I am, can do that. Why don't you run along and play with your bodily functions like your wretched uncle." He spat.

"Shut up about my uncle!" She shouted through a whisper- something that only a Snape could do.

He made a humping pose at the wall. The icy cold voice of Lord Voldemort escaped his lips. "Do you know that this is what he does in his spare time? This is why he can't get a woman. It's why you don't have any other relatives but him." His skin changed to a pasty white, features changing…

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" she screamed at him, growled, and then lunged forward. Biting like a vampire and scratching like a wolf. The taste of blood in her mouth kept her anger thriving. She punched and kicked and body slammed him. Only when she heard a deafening shout of "STOP" From a deep, booming voice, did she allow herself to fall down on the floor and close her eyes.

She was panting like a dog. She'd never attacked anyone like that before. And it felt so wonderfully amazing to be the one causing pain than being the receiving end. Allowing her head to fall back, she stared at the ceiling and took deep, calming breaths.

She took a glance at the man she'd attacked. There was too much blood to make out the features. Severus was bending over him, checking to see if his vitals were working.

Sarah slowly slid down to lie down. She wasn't feeling so good anymore. The ceiling spun and she saw everything in a shade of blue. Feeling her stomach contract, she closed her eyes and waited to drift to her nightmares.

Meanwhile, Severus called his house elf and told him to contact St. Mungo's and to send a team of emergency crew to his house. He called another one to keep an eye on Mike while he went to see if Sarah was all right.

How she could have had the ability to leave Mike mauled on the floor was beyond him. But then again…vaccinations were made up of the sickness they were supposed to cure. Perhaps one of them caused her to loose control.

When he was looking over Mike, he noticed a lot of crescent shaped cuts. Bite marks. He gently lifted Sarah's upper lip and opened her jaw. Fangs. He checked her pulse. Twice a normal rate, along with her breathing.

He forced her eye to open. The iris wasn't the natural dark brown it normally was. It was…orange… This _had_ to be because of the vaccinations.

A loud _BANG _echoed through the manor. A team of emergency crew from St. Mungo's barged up the stairs. Severus looked over his shoulder as they picked Mike up and put him on a stretcher.

'That stain might never come out of the floor' Snape thought in an agitated tone.

He turned away and looked back to Sarah. She looked so disturbed, even with her eyes closed. Trauma doctors came by and moved him out of the way. He watched nervously as they lifted her onto a stretcher as well. They made a motion for him to follow.

They all walked out of the manor and onto the lawn, where two wizard ambulances were waiting- the only thing that could move faster that the Knight Bus, without apparating.

They arrived at the hospital gates, rushing through at an alarming speed. Severus was sure that if they'd misguided the ambulance by a half of an inch that they'd all be dead.

The doctors rushed Mike off to an emergency room and Dr. Perry Cox came from the hallway, and wheeled Sarah into an empty room. He immediately checked her pulse, and then took a large amount of her blood to be tested. He then, strapped her down to the bed.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Severus growled at him.

"Shut up and listen…professor. IF you remember what happened when you brought her here about two hours ago, you'd understand why I'm doing this. Because, I reckon that when she wakes up, she isn't going to be a happy camper." Dr. Cox hesitated. "You saw the way she attacked that boy. She was hallucinating, daydreaming. She got angry and brought him down to a trauma level. Don't you understand that she could fall into that state with one of our staff and have the same result? Especially here, in a hospital, the place she fears most of all. Her emotions are going to go haywire when she regains consciousness."

"What's wrong with her?" Severus growled at him.

"What do you think I just took her blood for? Newborn Vampires?" He snapped back. "Now, I have to go run tests. Are you going to leave her alone in there?"

Severus glared at him for suggesting such an atrocity on his part. He walked back into the room, and looked at her nervously. She convulsed for about ten seconds, and then groaned.

After about an hour of waiting, she shifted her body and opened her eyes, which were now a deep emerald color. Confusion crossed her face, then fear replaced it as she began to realize where she was.

She looked at Severus, then asked in a shaky voice "What h-happened?"

"What? You don't remember?" Severus asked in disbelief.

Very slowly, she shook her head 'no'. Confusion crossed her face. "I remember getting really mad at mike…then he turned into Vol-voldemort…and…I can't remember"

"You did much more than just get angry at mike, you nearly killed him. Not that I'm one to protest, with the way he's acted towards you lately, but if he had died, the lawsuits would be unbearable."

Sarah laughed weakly at that. Then she brought up the matter that was worrying Severus the most. "W-what's wrong with m-me uncle S-severus? Th-they're not going to take me away f-from y-you…are they!? N-no! T-they c-c-cant!"

"Sarah. Calm down!" He said reassuringly, placing a hand gently, but firmly, on her shoulder. "I don't know what's wrong with you yet. They're running tests as we speak. And as for them taking you away from me? They'd have to pry my custody of you out of my cold, dead hands."

"Good…" she said tiredly, snuggling up to him with a small yawn. "P-promise?"

'Why is that this child needs constant reassurances? I'll have to talk with her about that later.' Severus thought curiously. "Yes, Sarah. I promise." He then noticed a particularly large cut above her eyebrow. "Now, how did you get that cut?" He asked, more to himself than to her.

"I dunno…what cut?" She asked sheepishly.

"The one above your eyebrow, well next to it. Around your temple. Its quite deep." He gently took her face into his hands. "Let me look at that…"

The blood barely hid the white that he could see in clarity. "I…I think I can see bone…" He murmured to himself. He turned her face in a different direction, so he could see it better. He could see the bone all too clearly.

He looked wearily towards the door, everyone was too focused on Mike, and he could easily fix that cut with a few stitches.

Looking back at Sarah, he asked gently "Would you be comfortable with me fixing that?" He gestured to the cut near her temple.

Once again she looked confused, but nodded anyway. She trusted Severus with her life, how difficult could a simple cut be for him after he'd repaired her lung, manually! "Erm…is it g-going to hurt?" She asked warily, knowing she couldn't move even if she wanted to.

"It shouldn't, I'm going to use numbing gel and Novocain. Other than a little pinch, you shouldn't feel a thing." He said calmly, getting what he needed out of the glass shelves on the wall. Then he pulled a chair over to the nightstand, placing his required items on the nightstand, and then sitting down.

"Alright, relax yourself. If I move your head a certain way, I expect you to keep it in the same position. Understood?" Severus asked sternly.

"Yes sir." Sarah answered obediently.

He angled her head so that he could work with the wound more easily. Then, he uncapped the numbing gel. Placing on rubber gloves, he used two fingers to rub it around, and in, the cut.

Sarah winced, but tried to hide the pain she was in. Severus noticed this and pulled a pain potion out of his robes. Sarah squeezed her eyes shut; this was way more than just a pinch. She began sweating with the burden of hiding her pain.

He uttered only one word "Open."

At the fear of showing her pain, she shook her head no.

"Sarah, there is more than one way to get this potion into your body, and although I would rather not use those methods, I will if it deems necessary. Now, I said open!" He said sternly.

When Severus understood that she was not going to follow his orders, he took a small, thin, plastic tube out of the drawer and cast and immobility charm on her. He released the spell from her mouth.

"Now I'm going to give you two options. Take the potion by mouth. OR have it forcibly shoved down your throat by means of this tube going up your nose and leading to your throat." He could see her fear from the second option.

"Th…the first one…" She choked out.

Severus held her jaw until it opened, then poured the potion in her mouth. She could hardly swallow, so he took his fingers and firmly rubbed her throat to help it go down. Once the entire potion was swallowed, he took off the charm completely.

"Is that better?" He asked gently.

"Y…yeah…a bit…" she slurred out.

He took a vial of Novocain and filled a syringe with it. While sitting behind her head, he positioned it carefully, and then slowly injected it into three main nerve points.

She gasped involuntarily, but then the pain ebbed away. She allowed herself to relax, and she closed her eyes in relief. He took a wet rag and wiped the blood away from the wound. Then, he stitched the wound carefully and slowly in three layers. When he was done, he wiped over the wound again and applied healing salve skillfully to the stitches.

Sarah leaned towards him. Severus gently ran his fingers through her hair and rubbed her temple with great caution. He continued to run his long, white fingers over her forehead, whilst making sure he didn't touch the cut.

It felt odd. He was having paternal feelings towards his niece, and she was perfectly fine with it. It was just…odd. Not in a bad way either…she quite liked the feeling, as did he.

As Sarah relaxed and closed her eyes, Dr. Cox stormed in. "Severus, may I speak with you privately?" He said quietly.

Severus nodded, and followed Dr. Cox out of the room. "Do you know what's wrong?" He asked quietly, not wanting to be heard by the others in the hallway.

"Not exactly…but we've got a lead. There was some sort of…trace of a black substance in her blood." He looked at Severus with caution. "Any idea's Ozzy?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

-----Flashback----excerpt from previous chapter--------

_I lifted the flesh slightly with the probe and grabbed onto the black object with the tweezers. I gently, but forcefully, pulled it out. And there, in the confines of the tweezers was a broken, black scale. I placed it on the table and went back to probing the lung._

-----End-------Flashback-----------------------------------

"Just one…" He muttered angrily, how COULD he have been so careless!?

"Well, what is it?"

"Do you remember how Albus Dumbledore loved exotic creatures?"

"Yes. He got himself into quite a few accidents with them later in life, we weren't surprised by his presence."

"When he passed, he left one of his rare creatures in my care. Sarah, inevitably found him and was attacked. He pierced her lung, and I found part of a black scale in the wound. But it was only part of it…I think that's the reason behind this!"

"Could be." Said a deep voice from behind.

They both turned to see a slightly worn-looking, but incredibly handsome man with grey eyes. He had a scraggly beard, and looked like he needed a decent night's sleep. One of his legs was supported by the ebony cane he carried. He wore a pale grey shirt with a brown overcoat, and long black pants.

"Or, it could be that she did something, and didn't want you to know."

"What are you talking about?" Severus asked sharply.

"She's a teenager, is she not? Teenagers tend to mess around, as you should very well know. They…experiment with drugs and alcohol. Well…at least they do in the _muggle_ world."

----------------------------End Chapter-------------------------------

**Note to readers**: This is not the beta read version, my beta reader is a bit slow nowadays, but I wouldn't give her up for anything. So, I should soon have the beta read version up, I hope. The beta read version of the previous chapter is up as of now. Thanks for reading! Read and review! The story is FAR from over. Hell, they haven't even gotten to Hogwarts.


End file.
